The problem is there is no database for young person railcards if purchased at a train station so I can't prove it was in date. Then again they can't prove it wasn't but I suppose that's not the point.

Hello there, New round here. I hope this is in the right place and thank you in advance for your advice/feedback. A summary of the predicament I am in. Last October I travelled from Leicester to Manchester with an advanced ticket I had purchased with a young persons railcard. I was stopped by the conductor on the train and on showing my rail card I realised I only had the one half of the two bits that I needed for it to be valid. (For those that aren't familiar with railcards, in previous years all the information was on one card, much like a membership card or a driving license. Now they give it to you in two parts, one with the photo ID and the other with the expiry date) I had used my bit part railcard for many weeks previously and was never pulled up on it by ticket conductors on many of the journeys I had undertaken. in fact I was rarely asked to produce it at all, but I suppose that isn't the point. I was issued with an on the spot fine which I was unable to pay for not producing the relevant ID opted for the fine in which I was given 28 days to pay. I also voluntarily asked for one on the journey back as I still was in a position where I couldn't afford to pay for a full ticket and had no way of getting back. The conductor was very accomodating and informed me that if I found the missing part of my railcard, it might be worth sending it in and the fines would be cancelled. Unfortunately I never found it. At this point, and I know this is probably the part where I'm guilty judge, jury and executioner, I gave my old address as my correspondence. Now this wasn't a complete deliberate attempt to evade the fare as I was currently only living in Leicester part time and the only options I had available were to give my home address (which is some 80 miles away, and in all likeliness I wouldn't have travelled home within that 28 days) or my girlfriends parents which was where I was residing when I was in Leicester. The address I'd given was my previous term address which I had moved out of in the summer. I was still in contact with the landlord and had expected that I would be notified if any post came for me so I could pick it up. I heard nothing between October 30th (the original date of the fine) until the day before I went on holiday couple of weeks ago - June 25th - when a letter arrived at my mothers residence in Shrewsbury. In which time I'd missed a court case in Stockport, which was dated for May 7th and a judgement was passed in my absence. I have now been given a fine of £1200 and will have a criminal conviction. When I rang up Manchester and Stockport court in total dismay as to what I was being summoned for, they suggested I make a statutory declaration. I was given no more information, no dates or any specifics as to what I was being charged for. I was not told to seek any legal representation and when I attended the statutory declaration, which I assumed to be a mere formality of signing forms or something similar (my ignorance perhaps) I was asked to swear under oath and give a fairly accurate account of what happened. After a very awkward and intense 15 mins or so the judging panel decided not to proceed with the declaration and that the fine/conviction stood. Is this normal procedure in this circumstances? I'm still shocked as to how little information was made available to me. Of course I certainly didn't go out of my way to receive the fine and any subsequent letters but neither did I specifically go out of my way to avoid them. After all eight months had passed and I had assumed (hoped) that the matter had gone away. Again, my ignorance perhaps. Where do I stand with regards to appealing this decision? I am a student having only very recently finished my studies and with aspirations to work abroad or within a government office, something that would be destroyed if this conviction stands. I have never (knowingly) committed a crime of my life and after my mother was recently diagnosed with a third recurrence of lung cancer I am now the sole provider in my house and simply could not afford to pay a fine. (Not particularly wanting to go down the road of X-Factor style sob-stories but this perhaps couldn't have landed at my feet at a worse time). I've also not told a single person about this, mainly not to worry my mother, and following from today's experience in court am pretty shaken and worried at what might happen. Any information would be a godsend. I'm not looking for lectures, I know I've not covered myself in glory here but a £1200 fine and a criminal record for what was more than likely a total of £40 difference in ticket prices is grossly unfair in my opinion. I have written a grovelling letter to the chief exec of the rail company but I'm not holding my breath!