Some further information for your peace of mind: https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/Pages/convictions.aspx - You do not have to disclose convictions at all unless asked or required to. You could be required to by vague clauses in your contract, such as "You must not bring the company into disrepute". - You never have to disclose a summons unless you receive a conviction. You are innocent until proven guilty. - If you only have spent convictions, you can legally LIE and say that you don't have a criminal record or any convictions. You can also read the actual legislation on this matter here: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/53

You do not need to tell your employer unless you receive a conviction. You have not even received a summons yet so don't worry.

You need to contact an experienced criminal defence lawyer. Write down everything you said the ticket inspector and the police (no matter how pointless it seems now), before you forget it.

Have a look here at page 89, which is about fare evasion: http://sentencingcouncil.judiciary.gov.uk/docs/MCSG_(web)_-_March_2012.pdf The range of sentence is Band A to Band C fine. That means you could get a fine of 50% (Band A), 100% (B) or 150% © of your weekly wages. You also have the aggravating factor of "High level of loss caused or intended to be caused", which could increase the level of fine. I'm sorry to say, but what you've said leads me to believe you have absolutely no chance of receiving an absolute discharge (which are only given in around 0.5% of all criminal cases) and a very small chance of getting a conditional discharge (which are given in around 6% of cases). Magistrates are allowed to depart from the guidelines only in exceptional circumstances, and in the interests of justice. Common reasons for this include job loss or health issues. If you have an exceptional reason why it would not be in the interests of justice to fine you, then you should seek the advice of a solicitor. If you don't have any such circumstances, then you shouldn't waste your time and money as you will definitely get a fine. You can try contacting TfL, but they are very tough so you are not likely to succeed.

I believe all byelaws are non-recordable and will therefore not give you a criminal record (http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/WhereYouLive/SaferStreets/DG_181635). Fare evasion is a recordable offence (http://www.acpo.police.uk/documents/PoliceCertificates/SubjectAccess/Retention%20of%20Records06.pdf). I assume from the title of the thread that you are dealing with a byelaw offence.

If you are planning to attend court, you should only send the plea form, and you should fill out the part which says "I intend to plead guilty, and will attend court". You should not send anything else, you should bring the means form and mitigation documents with you to court and present it to the magistrates. If you plan to plead guilty and do not wish to attend court, you MUST fill out a means form and send this with your plea. I would also like to correct my previous post. A discharge is deemed to be NOT a conviction, as per section 14 (1) of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/6/section/14). An absolute discharge is not a conviction, and a conditional discharge is not a conviction unless you breach the conditions of the discharge. However, they will both still give you a criminal record.

It would be better to plead guilty and attend. You can apologise and explain any mitigating circumstances, such as financial hardship, to the magistrates. You can also provide mitigation against sentencing, such as character references or documentation demonstrating that you could lose your job or visa. You would need strong evidence to support this though. An absolute discharge is a finding of guilt, is still a conviction, and would still give you a criminal record. Even so, unfortunately there is very little chance that you could get this as the fare evasion was clearly intentional and over an extended period of time.

Yes, it's a shame that these dangerous criminals will be allowed to roam the streets just a year after committing such a heinous act. If only we could give a criminal record to everyone who has downloaded an mp3 or movie illegally; the country would be a much safer place.

Misuse of concessionary passes is taken very seriously by TfL, and they will charge you under section 5.3a of RRA 1889. You can look view TfL's prosecution policy here (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/tickets/Revenue-enforcement-and-prosecutions-policy.pdf). It is extremely unlikely that they would allow you to settle out of court, they would only do so in exceptional circumstances (for example if you were to lose your job or visa). It is probably best not to offer them any more information before consulting with a solicitor.

Well, the OP says she gave the correct house name and postcode which, as everyone knows, is always enough to obtain the full address. I think it would be a hard sell to convict someone on that basis.

What statute are you being prosecuted under? Edit: Having re-read your post, I assume you have not received a summons yet, simply a notice of intention to prosecute. There is not a lot you can do until that time except write them another letter. You may want to seek legal advice before doing so.

I can't imagine any scenario in which it is beneficial for you to attend that interview and answer their questions under caution. If you do plan on attending, I strongly suggest seeking the advice of a solicitor who you will be able to explain all the facts to.

No, you do not need to attend this meeting. As they say in the letter, it is likely that you will be prosecuted if you do not attend the meeting, and they are giving you the opportunity to present your side of the story in order to prevent the case from going that far. If you do plan on attending, I suggest you consult a solicitor first.

I think you will find that the paragraph you are referring to is the 'statement of facts' that will be read out if you plead guilty. If you do not plead guilty, there are no facts, only evidence. The facts would then be determined by the magistrates after hearing all evidence. If you refused to sign the inspector's notes, then they would ask their colleague to counter sign. However, if you disagree with something that is written in the report then you would still be able to contest it. You would need to consult a solicitor on this and show them all the evidence in order for them to assess the admissibility of the evidence.

By 'statement of facts', are you referring to the written witness statement of the inspector? If so, their statement would be backed up by evidence in the form of the inspector's notes, which you would have been asked to sign. If there is something in the signed transcript which is not true, you will unfortunately find it extremely hard to overturn unless you have some counter-evidence. If there is no such signed transcript then the evidence is flimsy at best and you should seek the advice of a solicitor.

It would be better to write a letter, in my opinion, although as others have said, I believe you would be unlikely to succeed as misuse of Freedom passes is one of the most serious offences. If you plead not guilty then the case is likely to be adjourned for a date between 4 and 10 weeks later. If you are looking to settle out of court, then you would be advised to attend your court date to enter a plea of not guilty in person. This would give you the greatest amount of time to try to reach a settlement. If you do take this course of action but are later found guilty, you would get a somewhat increased sentence.

You can see the current legistlation here (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/53/section/5) and the proposed legislation here (http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/lbill/2010-2012/0109/amend/su109-viib.htm). It is currently 5 years for a fine, though this would be reduced to 1 year. The changes would be retrospective. Here is an article on it (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9057643/Hundreds-of-thousands-of-criminals-to-get-clean-slate-in-law-change.html). Although likely to be made into law, this is still a proposal so bear that in mind.

Apologies, all I saw was the quote of your post by HB (which still includes the name, by the way).

Since you have an obvious and real risk of losing your job, you may have a better chance of being able to reach an out of court settlement with the TOC. If you want to stand the best chance of achieving this, then you should contact a specialist (there's more than just the one mentioned by Old-CodJA). They will know the best way to convince the TOC to settle. The fact in itself that you have hired a solicitor can help, as it shows the TOC that you have already incurred significant expense, and that you are taking the matter very seriously.

You may wish to take a look at the sentencing guidelines for Fraud (http://sentencingcouncil.judiciary.gov.uk/guidelines/guidelines-to-download.htm), although they do not cover such a minor case as yours. If this is your first offence, and there is no evidence that you have done this before, I would expect a fine between £500 and £2500 or a community sentence.

Also, the "Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill" that is currently going through Parliament would reduce the time until a fine conviction is 'spent' to 1 year, and a custodial sentence of less than 6 months (even if it is a suspended sentence) to 2 years after the end of that sentence.

You may receive a summons directly, although it is more likely that they will write to you first as they have nothing to lose by trying to get additional information about you. They are extremely unlikely to settle this out of court. It is borderline fraud, and at the very least a serious breach of The Regulation of Railways Act 5.3.a. Due to the level of intent, I would be surprised if they did not go for fraud. No, they will pick just one. They could submit their court documents anywhere, and yes it is most likely to be London. Yes, you would be wise to seek the advice of a solicitor, although there is very little chance that you will be able to settle out of court in this instance. If you are sent a letter, I would certainly suggest consulting with a solicitor before replying to it. It is extremely unlikely that you will go to prison, unless there is evidence that you have done this before or have prior convictions (which I assume you don't). Even then, you can take this extremely serious example below and see that he only received a suspended sentence. Yes, you would get a criminal record if found guilty in court. If convicted under RRA, you would likely receive a fine of a week's wages (approx £300 avg), plus prosecution costs (£150) and a victim surcharge (£15) for a total of around £465. This court be more as it is heavily premeditated. If convicted of Fraud, the fine would likely be 2-3 times greater.

No, it is a public place so there is no expectation of privacy.

Just briefly... 1) Would my mum get into trouble as she knew I was using it (I really dont want her too) Yes, it is an offence to transfer a ticket under TfL byelaws 20 and 21 and an offence under section 25(3) of the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981. 2) Would she be able to get another card? Not if you said she gave it to you intentionally. If you didn't say that then she could apply for a new one under the lost/stolen category. 3) Did I do the right thing in telling the truth? Yes, things can get out of hand if you are caught out lying. 4) Would they have found out if I had lied and said its my photocard? Yes, he would have been told on the phone that the card was not in your name. 5) What are the chances of me going to prison etc You cannot go to prison. If you are found guilty, you will most likely get a small fine in the region of £200. You may be interested in two websites that you will find if you do an internet search for [edited].

Your wording of "is never used" may be read to imply that it could be used. First time offenders cannot be imprisoned under RRA.