Thanks for your advice and I did exactly what you said and the man was very reasonable. He said the usual fine would be £280+ original fare but they would charge me £75 for my stupidity. So overall a £75 fine.

They do want me to take a responsible and I'm still 16.

Looks like i've had to come back and grovel and say you may be right. I recieved a letter from their 'Prosecution Dept' yesterday, they have invited me to an appointment on Tuesday, what do i do?

I don't quite know how it works but it seems to have done. I'm now travelling happy with trentbarton rather than East Mids Trains. If i do get a letter i will come back and let you know though! And i'm more than happy to pay the fare or even a £20 penalty fare, I was just really worried about the 'court scare' they gave me.

I have spoken to the General Manager of the Heritage Railway of which i volunteer and he is confident they won't proceed after he emailed them advising them not to. Thanks for the help anyway. Well, apart from the person who came in throwing accusations. Otherwise, if you live in Derbyshire enjoy the sun. But once again, Thank you all very much!

Hi, I'm looking for some advice on a problem that has affected me. I'll begin from the start. I ordered a Stagecoach Smartcard (part of EMT so i gather) so i could commute to school (I'm 16) by Train. I went to use it as i went to my volunteer position on a Heritage Railway, I thought it worked like a trentbarton MANGO card, I scanned it on and the scanner bleeped at me so i thought i'd recieve a bill through the post or something (first time using one). I got on my train and as the Ticket Inspector walked down i explained what i had done and asked her if it was OK, she later turned out to be a Revenue Protection Officer for EMT. She took my card and said that the card was only for season tickets but took it and phoned the card place. She said there was no ticket on the card so i offered to pay for a paper one, she refused and said it's too late. She then got me off the train at Derby Station (I started at Long Eaton, commuting to Belper) and took me to the front desk. I asked her if i could use a phone to call my parent and she said she'd check my details and be a few minutes then i could. I gave her my details and version of events in full. I got my phone out (with no credit) to get my parent's number out and she said i couldn't use her phone because i had one, she said that i had a phone and im trying to waste her time. She even threatened to call the police and my volunteer work and 'see what they thought of it' in the end she said she'd be reporting it and i'd get a letter in the post to take me to court. I made her fully aware i was 16 and asked her for ID so i could write down her name, She flashed her name badge (pinned onto her shirt) at me and shouted 'I'm ****** and i'm a REVENUE PROTECTION OFFICER!' (Don't know if i'm allowed to post names). Afterwards when i got to my volunteers position (late) and spoke to two volunteers (One a Magistrate and one a former Police Officer) and they said what she did was out of order and they probably wouldn't do anything because of her behaviour (shouting, refusing me access to a phone, questioning me without a responsible adult, not showing me a badge of authority or cautioning me and apparently anything i said to her was inadmissible in court). Any advice? I'm still waiting on the letter. Thanks, Alphoria