Hi everyone, The reason for doing what I did was that I am struggling with money and I find it very humiliating to ask my husband for money. I recently delivered a baby, tried to change career, done some training and tried my luck as self-employed with the outcome that we would not pay the bills without my husband's salary. I am writing all this to convey that I feel bad about what I have done. On the practical issue: I am reading the other posters and would like to thank everyone taking the time to reply mine. My situation is as follows: I’ve been using mum's freedom pass on the underground and a PAYG on the overground. Done it for approx a month. got caught in first week of December. Never done since then. The LU inspector retained my mum’s pass and got a printout of the PAYG I was using on the overground (my journeys normally comprise travelling both an overground and underground). As it happens I trained as therapist and I am very concerned that this may go down on my CRB. This is additional to the fact that I have acted in a way which is morally and legally wrong, for which I feel bad about it. I didn’t sign the report as the inspector made me feel really bad and kind of abused me. I was called a piece of trash, told that I should be ashamed of myself and that I don’t deserve being a therapist and that he was not surprised I don’t have enough clients to pay the bills. The PAYG don’t have my name on it. They would need to have CCTV footage to prove it was me using my mum’s freedom pass in the other instances, and probably even in the instance I was caught they would need CCTV as I didn’t sign the report. I was caught in one of the big stations in London. I have today received a letter from LU. This is exactly the same letter sent to rosa2009. --------------------------- On (day) at (time) an incident took place at x tube station whereby you were spoken to by a member of London Underground staff regarding your train journey and the associated fare. The facts of this incident are now being considered and I must advise you that legal proceedings may be initiated against you regarding this matter in accordance with the London Underground prosecution policy. If you have any comments to make regarding this incident please write them on the reverse side of this letter and complete the information panel below, returning the whole letter in the freepost envelope provided which does not require a stamp, within 10 days. You do not have to reply to this letter but it may harm your defence if you do not mention something which you may later rely on in court. Anything that you do provide in writing may be used in evidence. Failure to respond to this letter may result in the matter being progressed by the London Underground Prosecutions Department without further notification." There is a box at the bottom of the letter where they ask to complete the following info: Surname, Forename, Date of birth, Address, Post Code, Telephone number, Occupation, Signature and Date. --------------------------- My preferred course of action is to settle out of court, avoid any CRB, pay my fair share, learn a lesson and move on. That would help me feel better about myself. I spoke to my husband about this and my behaviour, and that was helpful in getting him to understand how I feel about not being able to have an income. My preferred course of action would imply replying the letter, admitting my fault and ask to settle. My fear is that they may not have enough evidence against me because of the fact I didn’t sign the report and because there is no name on the PAYG I was using. If I reply the letter they sent, they will get the evidence they need and in case they are not co-operative I could end up in court and get a record in CRB. Finally in terms of questions I have: Do you think it is likely they don’t have enough evidence against me? Do you think they would offer me the option to pay an X amount of money without impacting my CRB? What do you advise me to do. Many thanks, Clara

I have recieved a notice from the revenue collection agency giving me the opportunity to report on my incident. I was at Marylebone station on my return leg (outbound went without incident). My ticket wouldn't go through the turnstyle (as is often the case). when I presented it to the railway staff I was questioned about the date I had entered on my Carnet ticket. I have a biro pen which does work on these tickets and to me the date was pretty clear. Although I did not in any way change the date, my ticket was seized and I was given a warrant to travel/notice of ticket irregularity (after a fairly lengthy 'professional' debate i.e. no abusive language or threatening behaviour etc.). The customer services department for chiltern railways undertook an investigation and they believe the date to have been changed also. The date on the Carnet ticket and date of travel was the 19th and the claim by chiltern railways was that I had changed the date to a 19 from an 11. I expect to receive a summons. Can anyone offer any advice? It is my word against theirs and I have to reiterate here - I did not change the dates on the tickets after they had been entered prior to getting to the station platform.

I have spent the whole day in tears which normally I would solve by meeting up with a friend and talking things through over a bottle of wine but this time I really am too ashamed to tell even my closest friends. Plus they could not provide the same level of advice as the people on this forum. I have spent literally the entire day on these threads and think it's great there are people who are happy to help. What happened to me started rather innocently. I sat in the nearest available seat on a First Capital Connect train From Welwyn North to King's Cross on my way to work one morning in August and didn't worry about it as I had a monthly season ticket. This was the first time I ever encountered a conductor on one of these trains (I had started my job in London in June). They advised me I was sat in first class, although it is quite hard to tell the difference when the train is so packed - that compartment was empty in comparison, but I didn't really see how it was different to the rest of the train. I think I must have sat in those seats on previous occasions also without even realising when the rest of the train got too full. I honestly didn't think about it as I thought I had some sort of a superior ticket covering everything, because £223 is loads! They also advised my ticket only covered standard class travel - obviously not so superior Anyway, I said if that's the case I said I would upgrade and the lady said "that's 20 quid then". For some reason, instead of paying and shutting up, I decided to argue about how unfair the situation is. I got so into the frame of mind that it was "absulutely out of the question to pay £20 to upgrade to first class" - at this point that's what I thought it was, I didn't realise what they were doing was giving me a chance at paying the Penalty Charge. I believed this was so unfair when I spent so much on a monthly ticket and thought I had a right to take a seat on the train, especially as that particular carriage was much emptier than the others with free seats (now I know why... I honestly thought first class restrictions were only for long journeys, not commuter trains). When the conductor requested my details, I completely made up an address - somehow, in my stupid morning brain I thought this was the "fair" thing to do as "I clearly paid" and "did not deserve to be charged more". I am so ashamed now, it was just the pressure of the situation really and wanting to be left alone. I am not sure how I thought they were not going to check it out, but I certainly did not think this was a serious situation. I just thought it would be a bit of a laugh to see how things pan out. If by "a laugh" I mean getting questioned by the British Transport Police upon my arrival at King's Cross station and realising "oops, this is serious, I better give them my real details" then, yes, it was HILARIOUS (( I honestly don't know what was up with me that morning. I am a 26 year old girl, quite lively and generally happy-go-lucky taking things too lightly sometimes, but this was too much. So I provided my real details at that point to a female member if the British Transport Police. Luckily, st least she was sympathetic. She actually said she completely understood why I did it as the prices are ridiculous, but of course this still did not make it ok. What I am really upset about though is that at that stage, the FCC staff assured me that since I had done nothing like this ever in the past, they will not prosecute. Two months later, I am facing prosecution and because I attempted to provide false details, this is being treated as a criminal offence and I am looking at a criminal record, up to £1,000 fine and the maximum penalty can be up to 3 months in prison. Not so funny now. I have just finished my Masters degree and started a dream career in London; however, with what may happen, this could be a short-lived one. I feel so stupid for not realising the seriousness of the situation there and then. I thought along the lines of "I have paid, they can't touch me" and it was this arrogance that made everything worse. I will do my best to settle out of court, but it is serious and they have no reason to agree to that really because, as I have found out now, under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889 this is technically fraud. Such a small thing, yet it could mean that I may not be able to get a job with some companies that are strict about the checks they carry out on prospective employees, and if I do get a criminal record, I may never be able to travel to America. I am absolutely gutted and can't believe this has happened to me. Do you guys think there is anything I can do to increase my chances of settling out of court? I have realised the seriousness of doing something like that and would never dream of doing this again. My family come from a country where honesty is a big thing in our culture and in my family and they'd be so disappointed. Also I would like to go to the US one day and I can't imagine not being able to. If anyone knows anything I could do to settle out of court and what a reasonable amount would be to offer, please let me know. I was told today over the phone by the Prosecution Department that I should send this in writing asap. Any help is much appreciated and I am honestly really sorry about what I did.

A few months back I was caught at Hitchin station without a ticket. I wasn't on a train, I was connecting to another to get home. It is true that I evaded the fare deliberately, but it is also true that I hadn't had a square meal in two days and needed to get to my parents to eat something and scrub up. The guy who stopped me looked through all my old tickets and scanned my Oyster and told me I was being cautioned (which bizarrely started with me being read my rights - by a guy in a First Capital Connect uniform). I thought this would be followed by a request for the £20 fine, instead FCC sent a notice of intention to prosecute to my parents' home and required me to write a statement of what happened. I wrote that I had no money and deliberately went through the barrier without a ticket. Apparently honesty is not advised these days because they seem to view this as a sure-fire win and seemed more willing to prosecute having received my admission of guilt. The fare evaded by me was £3.70 which is being claimed back plus £110 in court costs. I am self-employed and frequently poor and live in Berlin, Germany so I will have to plead guilty unless I want to fly back to attend magistrate's court. I have to inform them of my financial situation (frequently awful, sometimes great) but I have seen from other posters on here that the magistrates will not take that info into account when passing judgement. I only hope I can pay when I get the fine. Whatever happened to the £20 penalty fare? Does anyone have experience of dealing directly with FCC's Prosecutions Department?