Feet on seat girl let off without a stain on her character

Kathleen Jennings, 19, faced a maximum £1,000 fine and a criminal conviction which could have cost her the chance of a career as a teacher.

But the court described the prosecution by Merseyrail as "draconian" and imposed no penalty on the university student.

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Miss Jennings sobbed and hugged her parents, Tony and Susan, as she was given an absolute discharge, which means she will have no fine to pay and no conviction against her name.

Magistrate Christine Abrams said: "The bench is united in feeling while this may have been contrary to a bylaw, Merseyrail should have a less draconian method for dealing with matters of this nature.

"A fixed-penalty system may be more appropriate."

As the Daily Mail reported, the ordeal for the undergraduate from Oldham began when she and her boyfriend, Mark Dowling, 22, were travelling on a train to Chester in June.

Miss Jennings, a volunteer worker for children with special needs, rested her flip-flops on the seat opposite.

She was immediately approached by a Merseyrail enforcement officer wearing a head camera. "He said, 'Are you comfortable,'" said Miss Jennings.

"I said sorry and moved my feet back to the floor. Then he said he wanted to see me when I got off the train."

The officer took down Miss Jennings's address, phone number, occupation and a description of what she was wearing.

The Manchester University maths student received a summons to face Chester magistrates accused of "wilfully interfering with the comfort or convenience" of other passengers.

She pleaded guilty but Irwin Bamforth, defending, said: "I have to say that the general consensus is this is ludicrous.

"All it would have taken was for the gentleman to say, "Please take your feet down".

"She took her feet down and that should have been the end of it.

"To be punishing a promising young maths student with no previous convictions, and she could end up with a criminal conviction, is crazy. There is no other word for it."

After the hearing Miss Jennings said: "I am really relieved. This has been a very difficult time for me.

"I regretted what I did but I would not have minded an on-the-spot fine. I hope they will target proper criminals, not someone like me."

Her father added: "It is ridiculous - they just pick on the easy targets.

"If it was a 6ft yob he would not have been here today.

"I'm relieved somebody had a bit of common sense."

Merseyrail has a zero tolerance policy towards feet on seats and has made 250 prosecutions since February.

A company spokesman said the "feet up" policy had been widely publicised through signs and loudspeaker announcements.

Enforcement officers use CCTV "head cams" to provide evidence for prosecutions.

A spokesman said: "We do not regard our campaign as draconian.

"We are responding to the demands of passengers who don't want to sit on a seat covered in mud or dirt, and the campaign has received widespread messages of support from passengers throughout the country.

"A further 600 people are due in court over the next few months. Doing nothing is not an option for us."