I don't recall if I was cautioned or if I signed anything. He did say however that he would make a note of how helpful I was with his enquiries which made me think that perhaps his company get a lot of people who just say nothing to him. I think there might be the chance that I can make an appeal out of time because I have proof that i wasn't in the country....

hello, I have a question if that's ok. On around the 23rd of October 2008 I was in London for a night with a friend so that I could be there in time to catch a flight to Thailand. I was given instructions to find her house and bought an all day travel card to use the underground...to meet her I had to also catch a bus to Angel. I waited at the bus stop and one of those bendy buses stopped at the bus stop. Everyone got on (rush hour) in the middle door (this was where the bus came to a stop) and i entered with them. The bus was very full and in truth i expected some sort of conductor service (it had been a very long time since i was in London!)...obviously i now know that this is not the case and upon leaving the bus was challenged by an inspector for the ticket...i told him that i didn't have one and was not afforded the chance to get one because of my entry point to the bus and the amount of people crowded on. I gave him my name and address and asked why there was no conductor service...(guess i'm an unintentional luddite)...he said that there would be a penalty fare and a small chance that I would be taken to court...i explained that i didn't live in London and had no idea how the service worked and he said that there was a good chance that i wouldn't be prosecuted unless there was a record of me having done this sort of thing before. He said a letter would be sent to my address asking what my reasons for not having a ticket. I explained that the next day I would be leaving the country for six months and would not have easy access to my post. He said not to worry too much because there was little chance of a prosecution if I came up clear on their records but asked if I could have somebody look out for the letter when it arrived (the address given was my mums because i obviously had no other address because i would be away for so long.) So feeling a little stupid (it was never my intention to not pay a two pound fare) I went on holiday and left a message with my mum to look out for a letter from london. My mum never wrote to tell me that I had received a letter so I thought the matter had come to an end. I arrived back in the country and immediately went to work in Cornwall (i sell jewellery in the summer season on a beach and didn't go back to my mums in Leicester when i arrived back to the UK because of the huge round trip that this would have meant). I asked her to send down all my bank post to my address in Cornwall and received it in late july. To my horror, I discovered that I had been issued with a court summons in April for fare evasion. The inspector who had been so nice and understanding at the time had written that I had made no comment to his assertation that i had intended to avoid the fare and there was no record given of me saying what i said to him. I realise that an offence has been committed and that I was in the wrong (however unintentionally). I was obviously found guilty in the case because I was not there and thought to myself, well I have to fight this a little because I never even knew I had to be in court until after the court date had happened. I put it to the back of my mind and decided to sort it out after my season had finished (it's a full on seven day working week until mid-september)...I have just heard from my mum that a bailiff has been to her house to levy goods (there are none there, i just used her address as a place for my banking letters to be sent). I did not recieve a letter from the tranport company (is it TfL?) just the court summons. I have tried to ring Highbury Corner but the automated phone system didn't seem to want to let me talk to anybody. I called the bailiff and he suggested that I pay the fine and the extra money added by his firm (340 pounds in total) and then appeal the decision afterwards. Now where do I stand with this ? I accept that I am guilty but do not accept that I intended to evade the fare and am a little annoyed that he said I remained silent when this was far from the case. Now because this is a summary offence isn't it neccessary for me to have known that there was a trial for the whole thing to be above board ? I really cannot afford a solicitor at the moment (obviously the rain this summer affected my trade enormously) and whilst I'd rather just pay the money and get it all over with I still feel a little wronged by the whole procedure. Is it worth an appeal (where i would have to defend myself) or will this risk the 340 pounds rising to an even higher figure ? Sorry for the length of this letter and the fact that it might read a little unclearly but I would appreciate it if somebody could give me some advice on how to proceed...? Also, would my all day underground ticket have allowed travel on the bus ? if so i feel really really stupid because that was in my pocket all the time.....any help would be great...thanks