hi guys I just gave them a call like advised and they were very friendly- listened to my case and agreed to settle out of court!!!! the fee was £229.30 but if anything its a lesson well learnt- THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR THE ADVICE dont ever stop you guys rock!!!!:whoo:

ok thank you very much for the advice I will certainly come back to tell you of any updates!!!

Im in a very complicated situation at the moment being that I recently dropped out of university ( where I studied business law) as I got into a much better one- im not studying law there but I would definitely use it for my future career as it is somewhat related to the field I want to be in ( russian legal system- studying russian and history at ucl) - I also dont know how having said record would affect me going into the university- and what exactly would count as mitigating factors as I am very active in my community- my senior prosector is based at camden railway station london- should I wait till friday for my appointment with citizens advice bureau and sort things out with them or sohuld I call them in person and explain my mitigating factors whatever they be?

haha thanks for speedy reply the byelaw in full is- contrary to byelaw 18(1)of the transprt for london railways byelaws,made underparagraph 26 of schedule 11 of greater london authority act 199 and confirmed under section 67 of the transport act 1962 I was in a rush as well but that doesnt counter the stupidty !!! thanks HB:wink:

hiya guys- firstly i'd like to thank the advise givers here for the countless people you have helped you are all a credit!!! on march the 16th I walked through a oystercard touch in/out assuming my card had enough money on it ( listening to music so didnt hear the beep) and it didnt- got stopped by a ticket inspector and on saturday the 28th of april I got a court summons to appear for the 16th of may. I would very much like to try and settle this out of court being that this is the first time I have had an offense ( I know tfl says its the first time that I have been caught and they dont know wether i've done this before which is fair play) - I understand that its not a question of intent as the facts WERE that i did not have a valid ticket and that they have a huge problem with it BUT it was a genuine stupid mistake on my behalf which I really regret and which would disproportionately affect my aspiring career as a lawyer, not to mention my uni place which I worked really hard to get coming from a low-income family The facts of the case are: -I am being charged for 'purpose of travelling .. and did not have a valid ticket' contrary to some bye-law -to plead guilty in advance and pay costs of £125 or plead not guilty ( i am technically guilty) -Statement of witness ( ticket inspector) can you produce a valid ticket?-no do you have the appropriate means to pay for your rail journey today?-yes (im pretty sure I answered no at the time but I was under great duress at the time so there it is) do you agree by your actions today it was your intention to avoid paying the appropriate rail fare?- no ( meaning that It was a careless mistake on my behalf) I have contacted citizend advice bureau, with whom I have a meeting this friday- they said tfl usually settle out of court for an X amount of money provided they are first time offenders who have mitigating factors although they are not obliged to which does give me a ray of hope but I am still really worried as there is only 2 weeks left till the summons and I dont know whether that will be enough time? (I am more than ready to pay the administrative costs of filing the summons and any additional fines using money I have saved up) I am dreadfully sorry for my stupid mistake and I do deserve to be punished for it but a criminal record is something I really cant afford to have!!! with all this in mind I was wondering if anyone can answer - is there enough time for a settlement out of court to be made? - are the chances of tfl dropping the case increased or decreased by my situation - supposing they decide not to drop the case and I plead guilty on the form what would the cost to me be? -how drastically would such a record affect my career? is it a recordable offense? will it come up on checks?