Thank you for the link, I don't intend to send it myself but just to have as a back up in case I don't have a chance to speak to someone at CAB, unfortunately I couldn't yesterday as waiting to be seen took too long. Thanks

Oh thank you for clearing that up, I haven't contacted them yet but I'm hopefully going to try and see CAB before work today to see what they can do. I drafted up a letter last night just in case I can't see them, I'm going away for a week from 24th till 30th June so it feels like I'm cutting it close even though the date is on the 3rd July, I know how long it can sometimes take, it took 2 weeks for my declaration to get from the court I made it at to the court that originally the case took place and to the LCCC... I only found this out because to my surprise I had bailiffs at my house 3 weeks after I made it. Thanks

Oh great, I never knew that they stored it for that long, on a side note with the witness statement the London underground sent me, they sent a photo copy of the front and back of the pass but more importantly a print out of the oyster card history, well the last 10 uses and that show one use at oxford circus on that date and the others are for bus journeys in my local area with the next one being a week before the incident. I'm not sure if that will help, I guess I'll have to use that in conjunction with the history of my card and hope for the best.

I do have my own oyster card however unfortunately after speaking to the underground staff, they can only look up to 3 months journey usage and the incident happened 10 months ago. That's why I'll leave it up to the professionals, but I appreciate the advice. Many Thanks

Hello Sammy13, Thank you for replying, your post is very helpful but I think its better off for me to get someone that knows what they are doing to act on my behalf since even though I did it accidentally, I did something wrong and I am willing to pay for my mistake even if a solicitor will wipe out any savings I have left and will leave me broke, a loss in income in my chosen industry would be far greater. I will never make that mistake again, it just a freak sequence of incidents, nothing like this has happen to me in the 10 years that I have had a oyster card and I've been paying for monthly travel cards since I got the job and incident but not that it matter. I will update in due course once I hear anything but the likelihood is that I'll have to go to court. Thanks

Thanks, I totally forgot about citizen's advice bureau, it probably wont be the best option but might be my only option.

I have an appointment with a local solicitors tomorrow, however with my current financial constraints, I am not if I would be able to afford legal advice so I would like to cover all my bases. Ideally I would like someone that knows what they are doing to settle this out of court but I might not happen considering what they said the cost might be. I'm in a delicate situation financially being a recent graduate living in London working in a minimum paid job and I'm considering to apply for further loans which my be exhausted.

Just a little update, London underground have sent me a copy of the original court summons as well as a witness statement (there are some things on that that are incorrect) from the revenue control inspector at the time to refresh my memory of the incident. I'm being charged with "attempting to travel on the railway without having previously paid the fare and with intent to avoid payment thereof contrary to s.5(3)(a) of the regulation of Railways Act 1889 as amended by Section 84 (2) of the transport Act 1962 and Section 18 of the British Railways Act 1970" And I am being prosecuted by London Underground, I also have a address and the name of the prosecutions manager. I will be writing to him in the next two days, I would appreciate it a lot if anyone could give me advice in what to write to him to avoid rambling on considering my recollections of the facts that I have provided bellow. Thank you for reading this.

Yeah, I guess they threw it in the bin because the incident happen on 5th Sept and the court case happened on 27th Feb and I only found out about it from a letter on 28th March. Not sure when they would have got the first letter(s) but I wouldn't have expected them to hold on to them and ideally they should have returned it to the sender. Can anyone weigh in on who to contact/write to and what to write given the information that I have given to settle this out of court. With there being only 3 weeks until the case goes to court, I'm getting slightly nervous because I don't know how long this process will take to settle. Thanks

I don't have any of the initial correspondence and from what I have been told is that they have been destroyed by the current occupants of the address. I do have a LCCC case reference number on the letter that I got at my parents house, is that of any use? Cheers

Hi Honeybee, I haven't contacted the train company (i guess its TFL, it happen at oxford circus) to settle this out of court, I've only spoke to LCCC and Lavender Hill court court about the case that happened in Feb without me present and to make a statutory declaration. I'm not sure who to contact and what to say and I was hoping to come here and get advice from you guys on how possibly to do so. thanks

Hi Bazza, I have the standard black Osyter card holder and after some wear and tear my mother replaced her orange one with one that she got from a train station which is the same type. She has card that card for 6 or more years, I can find out exactly if that helps. It was left on the coffee table in the living room where I was preparing for my interview, I had my notes, phone, wallet and keys etc on it too and as I realized I might be getting late for the interview I just grabbed everything off the table as I rushed out of the house forgetting that I left my osyter card in my coat pocket from the previous day where I used it to get to the job center, I just assumed it was mine. I realised it wasnt mine as I got to the bus stop that i had another one in my pocket which is when I used my card for the entire journey, two busses and two trains to the job interview. Thanks

Oh and I have forgot to mention that no I personally have never used that pass and to my knowledge only my mother to whom it belongs to has ever used it. I used my oyster top up on the way to the interview into oxford station but on the way home from the interview I accidentally used it at oxford circus underground station (both have the same covers). I have always topped up or had monthly passes which I have bought since starting work.

Hi honeybee, Long story short, any initial correspondence would have been sent to my old address but I got letter from the LCCC at my parents house notifying me of a court fine and after chasing it up I found out that it went to court and they passed a judgement without me being there. So I followed the process that they instructed me to do and I completed a statuary declaration at a magistrates court two weeks ago and they gave me a court date for the 3rd July. please let me know if you need any further infomation. Thanks

Hello, I have a court case on the 3rd of July regarding fare evasion and due to my career I need advice on the process of how to settle out of court. This is the first time that anything of this sort has happen to me and as things stand I do not have a criminal record and as a graduate aeronautical engineer any convictions will severely effect my career. A little about the incident, it happened on the 5th september 2013, I accidentally picked up my mothers freedom pass while in a rush to go to a interview for a job (my current job), however I realized that I wasn't mine and I didn't use it on the way to the interview (the travel history will show this). But the incident happened on the way back from the interview, I accidentally used her pass without thinking as I was absent minded and very happy at the time because I got the job when a inspector stopped me at the barriers to check the pass which is when I realised that I used the wrong one, again the history of the pass would indicate that I only used it at that barrier (He confiscated the pass from me). I acknowledged that I used it by mistake but I did not intend to dodge the fare on purpose, I told the inspector what happened and I gave him my relevant details with the help of my ID and even offer to pay the fare or any fine in which he told me that if I am to be fine, that I would get it in the post. I fully knowledge that I used it, but I used it by mistake and I fully regret making that mistake as it will have an impact on my employment. I would like to resolve this out of court as I have no prior convictions and this is the first time anything like this has happen to me. Any advice is very much appreciated. Thanks