Sorry I know this has been discussed many many times, but I've seen mixed answers for this so am still very confused. Sorry to waste people's time if you've heard it asked a million times. I want to ask about the exact nature of the prosecution under 5.3 and prepare for the worst case scenario, since this is what a family member of mine is being summoned to court under: 1. Is it a recordable offence? 2. Will it affect your employment? 3. Does it have to be declared? (for example, when applying for mortgages/insurance/jobs etc. anything that requests you to state if you have a previous criminal record) 4. Is it permenant? If not, how long will it last for? I have explained my situation in the London Underground thread. To cut a long story short, my dad got caught using my student photocard back in October and even though we sent a letter to explain we still got the summons almost 4 months later. If he pleads guilty, I just want to find out how harsh the terms would likely to be. Just to add, this is his first ever offence, in anything (except perhaps parking tickets), so he's very distressed about the whole thing, I've never seen him so unhappy:-( Thanks in advance, any answer is very much appreciated!!

Out of pure curiosity, from the many threads that I have read on this forum and elsewhere, is it correct for me to assume that it is more likely for a person to reach out of court settlements with rail companies than with the London Underground? I have seen very few successful examples for oyster card breaches.

Hi silly11, Sorry to bother you randomly. Would it be possible for you to also send me a copy? We have just received the first letter from TFL yesterday and need to draft a reply. I hope to get some tips from a successful example:razz: Thank you very much, I would be forever grateful!! (i tried to pm you first, but it wouldn't let me as I have under 5 posts on this forum:sad:)

I fully agree with you because at the end of my undergrad degree I have accumulated 3 identical 18+ student photocards, all lying in the drawer (with the final exception being in my bag, as how the tragic incident occured) with me not being able to use them for anything since I just obtained my FOURTH card (this time costing 10 pounds instead of 5 like the other ones). I can see why nobody else should be able to use them because it has my photo on it, but it is useless for me to have 3 identical cards and having to pay for each and everyone of them, instead of just letting me renew my card online. I'm sure the universities can verify people's attendence easily without the administering of an extra card every year. What happened to being green??

Thank you Stigy and katapigeon, Both of your advice are extremely helpful to me, I really appreciate it. We are going to wait for their letter and decide how to respond depending on what they say. katapigeon your experience is very encouraging to hear, I'm glad you were able to settle it of of court, hopefully TFL will be more lenient on my dad taking into consideration that he was cooperative and it was his first time. Stigy I understand that his experience may be a little complicated to explain in a letter, and does come across sounding he is making excuses to an extent. However, I am worried that if he keep it the way it was described at the time, it wouldn't make a convincing enough arguement? Also, I just have one other query. It just occured to me, even though my old 18+ photocard had expired, am still allowed to give it to someone else to use? Because it is my card after all, despite that it has become a standard adult rated Oyster. I don't want to complicate matters further if its going to incriminate him even more by telling them the truth:-( Thanks again and I appreciate any comments and advice!!!!

Hi all, I am posting on behalf of my dad, who was caught using my 18+ photocard today when travelling to Kings Cross. I have read many of the previous posts and understand that a heavy fine and a court summon may ensue this incident. What happened was that he need to get to Kings Cross and was looking for his oyster card this morning. So to save him the trouble I gave him my card thinking it was the recently expired one (which then becomes a normal adult rated card) because it had some cash (~4.50 pounds) left over in it so he didnt need to bother topping-up his own, when in fact what I've given him was my current photocard. Both cards were in my bag because it only expired 2 weeks ago and I forgot to remove it, which I now realise is a very stupid thing to have done:-( Naturally the story proceeds that he was asked to show his card by an inspector and he just told them it was a mistake and that he didn't realise it was my card he was using. And because he thought I would get into trouble for this he didn't mention the fact that I was the one who mistakenly gave him the wrong card, just that he took the wrong card. I think the officers heard enough 'mistaken card' 'in a hurry excuses and didnt believe him at all. They took my card, and he didn't have another valid oyster card on him, does this make the matter worse because it would look like he intended to use my card all the way. My question is, shall my dad stick to his version or shall I pen a letter also in response to the letter that will follow (He should only respond AFTER the letter is received, correct?)? Will they give some credit for that or will they deem it suspicious that the story had changed? It was a genuine mistake on my behalf and I am very depressed that my dad had to go through the whole embarrassing process of being interrogated by the Revenue Officers. The ideal thing is to avoid any court appearance because he doesn't want a criminal record that may affect him current job, will his company be informed of this? Will it affect his future employments? What are the chances that he avoids a prosecution and what is the 2010 rate of fine+adminstrative penalty etc. (sorry I didn't finish reading the whole thread, don't know id the conditions have changed this year)? Thank you in advance for any help and advice, I really really appreciate it!!!!!!