rjslondon
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Hello everyone - thank you in advance for any help you're able to give me. I have been sent a court summons for travelling without having previously paid the fare and with the intention to avoid payment. I would like some advice please because I do not think I am guilty, yet would prefer to pay than go to court. The situation is that last October I was travelling from London to commuter-land after work. It's not a journey I do at all regularly. I had a railcard for London zones 1-3 and as I was running slightly late for the train I asked the member of staff by the ticket barrier in London if it was OK to buy the remainder of my ticket at the other end - i.e. from the boundary of zone 3 to my destination. He said this was fine. On arrival I explained this to the staff at the ticket barriers and they let me through to buy a ticket, whereupon I joined the queue. I was supposed to be met by my mother and I saw her in the foyer from the queue. I shouted out to her and she, thinking that my voice was coming from elsewhere (she's quite deaf), turned to walk out of the station. I left the queue and walked after her, reaching her just at the exit to the station. I was about to give her a hug and say hello when the Revenue Protection Assistant ran up to me and accused me of fare evasion, etc. because I was outside the station boundary. I cooperated and answered all the questions, and was very civil to him. The thing I didn't tell him, because I didn't think at the time that it was relevant, was that I was only making this journey to visit my mum and grandmother because my grandfather had passed away two days previously. It was a highly emotional time and the first time I had seen my mum since she'd lost her dad. Obviously giving her a proper hug was a more important priority at that moment than paying the £8 ticket, although I had every intention to do so. I was sent a letter asking for my details etc back in January and I wrote in response giving this additional info because I believe it was a mitigating factor. And then yesterday I received my court summons. It's a first offence, and yes, I did travel without previously having paid for the whole journey, but I checked with a member of staff beforehand and they said that it was fine. I had every intention of paying for the full journey. It was absolutely not my intention to avoid the fare. I am happy to pay a fine, but I am very worried about getting a criminal reference - I work in the civil service and am at the beginning of my career. I don't want to plead guilty because I don't think I am guilty of having the intention of avoiding payment. However, I also do not want to go to court and would prefer to settle and quickly and painlessly as possible. I'm really quite worried about this and have no idea how to go forward... What should I do? Any advice would be much appreciated! Many many thanks.
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