Hi, Having read through various other situations on this forum I have decided to write an apologetic and begging letter to FCC (I was caught with no ticket and gave a false address before giving them the correct one) and offer them an out of court settlement. I work with children and a court appearance would be disastrous. I have yet to receive any letter from them but I would like to write to them immediately as it is making me horribly anxious. I cannot find the address for the relevant department anywhere on the internet, can anybody help? Also, what is an appropriate amount to offer - I was thinking £250 + penalty fare but could pay more if that will make it more likely to be accepted Thanks EF

Hello, I recently returned from a holiday in Poland to find a delayed letter from the FCC wanting to prosecute me for an unpaid fare. I was travelling from Hatfield towards Kings Cross and before the stop at Kings Cross the ticket inspector arrived in my carriage. I was in possession of a 16-25 Young Persons Rail Card but I lost it on earlier on that day which I told the inspector. The ticket Inspector wrote me a ticket, i provided all the necessary details and told him that I could prove my Young Persons card from the receipt i received when i was originally issued it. He said that he will still have to write a ticket and you can write a letter in appeal once i receive a copy of the penalty. However, a week later I was due to leave for Poland and the penalty still didn't come and when I returned it still did not arrive in my mail. Only today I found a letter with my name on it regarding the FCC prosecution written to the wrong address. I am clueless as to what i can do. I attempted to contact them but no response. I am an 18 year old student wanting to become a teacher and a criminal record is the last thing I would want especially before my career has even started. Any help to avoid getting a criminal record even if it means paying an extra fine i would gladly take. Many Thanks, Szymon

Hello. I'm not sure if you can help me but I haven't been able to find any help so far, so I hope you can. I boarded a southeastern train. There was a large group of people at the ticket office and ticket machine, but the gates were open. However, when I got to my stop the there was a ticket evasion operation in progress. And here's the snag. I had also forgotten my wallet. Unable to confirm my details, provide a ticket, or pay for the fine, I was made to write a witness statement. I was then sent a prosecution notice. Then a court summons. I am suffering from anxiety (I'm taking medication) and did not attend court. I now have a criminal record. From what I understand, discretion should have been used before using the section 130 of the Railways Act 1993 to take me to a criminal court. I was unable to pay the penalty fare due to not having my wallet and I was not given the opportunity to pay a fine at any other time. I did, however, offer to have the money sent to the station but the ticket collector would not accept this offer. I feel that at the very least, this was an overuse of the section 130 of the Railways Act 1993, and it has cause a huge amount of personal damage compared to the £4.60 ticket that I unknowingly stole.

Hi, I want to DELETE my other post but do not know how to do it so sorry for posting this again but I wanted to change title and make clearer. I am being investigated for benefit fraud. At this point, i am not sure what claims/ addresses they suspect or if they suspect all but I stupidly attended an interview under caution because the only offence I had knowingly committed was not changing my claim in time, that lead to 3 weeks overpayment, I admitted it and then got invited to interview. When I got to the interview I was interviewed for 2 and a half hours about ALL claims, the past 4 years of my life from age 16 to 19 and now, although I have not claimed for 6 months,now 20 years old. Address 1: 16 years old. They say I could only have claimed if I was a care leaver, I was not, never claimed I was. Claim was initatlly refused due to age, boss who was also the landlord said he would look into it, then two weeks later got a letter saying it had been awarded based on new information. I asked my boss what information he provided, I had NOTHING to do with it and NO knowledge he was submitting info. He claimed he just wrote to them saying we was in areas etc. It comes to light now that he must have said I had come from care, as this would have been the only reason they would have awarded it. Address 2: Lost job with first landlord, who was my boss. Guy who worked with this boss said to contact his Mother and ask to rent a room at her house as she used to rent to students. I had become depressed and quite mentally ill, self harming etc and I explained to the landlady I needed to claim HB. She said it was fine. During my time here, aged 16 and 10 months of age until 17 and 9 months of age, there was a fire that meant it was not safe for my landlords to live in and insurance put them in a hotel but would not house me. I stayed at the house during this time, investigator has flagged this up saying I couldn't have lived there. The difference is, is that the house was uninhabitable while work was going on for two people aged 73 and 74, one who had breathing problems from Asbestos. The kitchen was destroyed but I could still use a bedroom and bathroom, I pretty much didn't eat and when I did it was chips or toast etc. I stayed with friends when plumbing was done upstairs etc. I did not inform them of the fre, to be honest it NEVER crossed my mind. Address 3: Moved to a room, found add on gumtree. Turns out landlord was a sub-letter and not landlord, who had a criminal record for fraud (investigator told me about fraud, I found out about him not being landlord) One Day fake landlord tells us to get out, we say no we have a tenancy, he explains it doesn't mean anything, hes not the landlord etc. I left the next Day but carried on claiming for 3 weeks until the landlord got post for me and phoned benefits department, I admitted this before and during interview and offered to pay back etc. The son of Address 2, I started a relationship with during my time at address 3. He lived abroad during the time I rented a room at his parents and he would visit and stay in his own room. We become best friends and got very close but couldn't have a relationship and I was mentally unwell. Then we began a relationship some time after I moved out and he moved back to the UK. BEING ACCUSED OF (Contradicting by the way) Address 1: Not sure but they are suspicious of the fact I was not a care leaver. With all the new info I suspect my landlord lied to get them to change the claim decision from rejected to awarded by telling them I had come from care. Address 2: Sharing a room with the son, being in a relationship and therefore not being entitled to claim when I lived there as it is his family. NOT TRUE. Not living at the property during the fire, I suppose partly true and I shouldn't have stayed there due to the state of the house but I did. Address 2 and 3: Of knowing my landlord at address 3, whilst living at address 2 who aided me in committing fraud on a larger scale (her own words I have no idea what evidence is on this). Address 3: Continuing to claim fraudulently with the help of landlord at address 3. I suspect this is due to his history of fraud and they have put 2 and 2 together and made 11! Contradicting accusations: Address 2: Was in a relationship with son of landlord but he wasn't living there but because he was my boyfriend he paid the rent to his parents for me OR convinced his parents not to charge me. Address 3: Having my partner (who at this point WAS my partner) paying my rent for me and me pocketing the benefit. Despite me telling them he was on a £600 a month wage. I really would appreciate your advice in terms of; IF I am guilty of some fraud, will me age of 16 and 17 make it harder to prosecute Are other advice on the issues above. Cannot sleep or eat properly, having panic attacks and so on. THANK YOU.

Hello, Firstly, my main concern here is how the investigation is being dealt with as in my opinion, if I have unknowingly done something wrong, then I have to cross that bridge when I come to it but I have SERIOUS concerns.Although I am worried about all of it and am in need of advice. - I receive a call back in April, my benefit had been suspended in March. I knew why and called them got told to call this benefit fraud woman and I did. Gave her my email as I had no fixed abode and emailed her explaining what had happened which in a nutshell; Was renting a room, landlord turned out to be a sub-letter landlord found out and went crazy, everyone got told to be out by the next Day and that our tenancies meant nothing. The subletting guy promised me another room ASAP so I planned to continue claiming while I found another room THEN inform the council of my new address as i was worried about a big gap with starting a new claim. Sent an email explaining this and left it. - I get an email with a letter for interview under caution on JUNE 2012. The date was when I was away at a family wedding and oddly was on a Saturday?! I emailed her on June 27th saying I am sorry I cannot attend can we re-arrange. I herd nothing. I called and left my name and number twice. I left it. - OCTOBER 2012 The leading officer dealing with my case calls me out of the blue and says we need to arrange an interview. I agree and she books it for 3 weeks time and Says that she will send it in letter form to my old address as I can still get my post from there. Letter states its about X address and X problem. I DID NOT seek LEGAL ADVICE because I knew what it was, 3 weeks over payment, failure to notify etc. - Get to interview under caution and she interviews me about the past 4 years of my life, 3 addresses and a number of people for 2 and a half hours! It was exhausting. NOW THE REAL CONCERN She turns up at my middle landlords property, she is looking at 3 claims at 3 address; Address 1: 16 years old, paid straight to landlord Adress 2: 16 - 17 years old, paid to me Address 3: 18- 19 years old, paid to me -She turns up at address 2, unannounced and questioned my 76 year old landlord for over an hour, unrecorded. She tells him I have been claiming at HIS address for 4 years, this angered him. She also disclosed to him that my landlord at address 3 has a criminal record and she believes together me and him are part of a large scale fraud. She tells my ex landlord that I was claiming at 16 etc etc. Makes remarks such as "believe me, ill be prosecuting this girl, every case I get I take them down, I don't care if there OAPs, disabled, I get them, this girls has lied to me on tape through her whole interview" I was DISGUSTED to hear this. By the way, my interview was on the Thursday until office closing time, she turned up here on the Monday. My current partner is the son of landlord 2, we got into an actual relationship when I was living at another property AFTER this date, during my time at his parents he lived in Spain and worked there. So of course we know word for word in all truth what was said, my ex landlord was so disgusted with how she acted that hes retracted the statement and is complaining. Im so CONFUSED. I do not know what im being investigated for or what is happening. We didn't get to finish the interview and I had no time to ask questions, she now refuses to get back to me, meet me again until she has ore evidence etc. I am waiting for my useless solicitors to contact me, I have been waiting 2 weeks for a referral. I want to know how she can act like this, this isnt fair or impartial? How can she lie to my landlord to provoke anger and get away with it. How can she tell me the interview is about one small thing, then sit and interview me for so long. I am worried because I tried to answer the questions so I did not look uncooperative but I cannot remember everything from when I was 16. I was a bit of a tearaway, I had depression and eating problems and I did not really understand my legal obligations to claiming benefits, in all honesty, I didn't care back then. I know I have written A LOT but no one can help me if I do not lay down the facts. Does anyone know if I can do anything about her behavior and; IF they find I done something fraudulent under the age of 18, is this taken into consideration? Any other advice, experiences? THANK YOU Interview info and accusations EDIT: In interview she was suspicious because you can see X benefit going out but Y cash withdrawals that do not add up. I explained my rent was paid in cash, as stated on application and that I received "charitable donations" as I was not in a fit state of mind to work and was too young to claim anything, not that I even knew what was out there. I got say £250 in Charitable donations per month. My rent for example was £90 a week. I used to used the cash I got to pay rent and withdraw the different from my bank, so if I had £50 cash sitting there, I would only draw out £40 from my bank. Then I used what was left in my bank from housing benefit to pay for the stuff that the charitable donations was meant for, food, clothes etc. I said to her, why am I going to take cash to the bank every week, only to take cash back out??? I was terrible with money so I paid for things using card, I said, if I had £20 and only needed to spend £5, id end up spending the whole £20, its what I was like. Firstly she accused me of taking money from my partner or friends and paying rent with it, I don't understand whats wrong with this, money is money, they knew how much money I received every month, its up to me what pot I pay it from, its all still MONEY! Then she said, ok, lets say you wasn't having your rent paid by someone else, then I think you wasn't paying your landlord??? Her accusations were contradicting to say the least. I was honest and just said, look, I was 16-18 during these periods, my life was a mess, I did not keep paperwork ,record monies and quite frankly wasn't bothered about it, I was consumed with depression and that was the least of my worries. Now I am 20, have started my own sole trading company that is going well, I have matured so much am no longer depressed or taking medication and I am supporting myself. I feel like my careless behavior from when I was a minor is biting me in the backside and I understand if I was wrong, I was wrong, I need to face that but I am being treated like I was a completely comprehendable adult that knowingly plotted to [problem] the system because I am organised criminal.

Hi all Sorry a bit long winded all this. Thanks in advance for taking the time to look at this thread. I'll give you a brief overview of the situation and then just a couple of questions if anyone could advise further that would be great. I was recently stopped at my destination station without a ticket for my journey. I was in a rush for the train that night and as a result did not purchase a ticket before I travelled (there are plenty of ticket machines etc at this station). On the train no ticket conductor came around and it completely slipped my mind to by a ticket. I was stopped as I was leaving my destination station and questioned under caution by a ticket inspector. I gave an honest account of the situation but didn't quite realise the seriousness of the situation at the time. When asked how I intended to pay for my journey at the end of the interview I initially said "i guess I wouldn't have bought one" but then asked that the statement be changed to "I wouldn't have been able too". The inspector said I would receive a letter in 2-3 weeks and I am currently waiting for this letter which I understand will probably propose their intention to convict me in court (almost certainly of fare evasion) and ask me to respond. I am clearly in the wrong here and now fully understand the seriousness of my actions. I work in the NHS and I am really worried about the potential impact this will have on my career if it go's to court. As a result I contacted a solicitor who advised to wait for the initial letter and then respond with a letter apologising for the incident and pointing out my previous good character and the potential damage of any court appearance given my position. Being worried sick I have spent the day trawling the forums for any advice on composing a suitable letter and have one formulated in preparation. One of my main concerns is that the solicitor has advised me not to dwell on the offence only to apologise for it, in the risk that I will further incriminate myself should I decide to defend myself in court. As far as I can tell the letter will ask for my version of events and as such I have detailed them exactly as I described to the ticket officer and described it as an error on my part. I have then gone on to apologise, point out the potential damage of court proceedings and make an offer to cover any penalties + costs involved. I know I am trying to second guess the not very exact science of writing these letters but should I leave out any reference to the event and stick with the apology etc ??? Or should I leave this part in given that it is the information I provided during interview ?? My instinct is that any damage has already been done when giving my initial statement and as such a further explanation of the reasons I had not bought a ticket won't help but won't do me any harm either. I'm guessing the main bit of advice here will be too wait to see what the letter says but I can't stop worrying about this and just want to feel prepared for the worst should it arise. Thanks.

My 17 year old son arrived at a train station as the train was pulling in. He did not use the ticket machine which is located juast outside the station as this would have meant he would miss the train. He intended on purchasing a ticket from the conductor on the train. When he was on the train an inspector asked to see his ticket and my son said he did not have one but was intending to purchase one on the train. The inspector then said my son had broken a law and that he would be prosecuted for doing so. He collected some information from my son and said a letter would be issued. The train guard later apologised to my son because he felt the way my son had been spoken to was innaprorpriate and he was rude. He gave my son the details of how to make a complaint. A complaint has been logged and a holding response has been issued by the train company. Today my son received a letter from Transport Investigations Limited stating they have received a report which indicates that sufficient evidence does exist to warrant a prosecution. The file is presently with their prosecutions team who are considering whether to issue a summons. They have stated that if they do not receive a written response within 14 days a summons may be issued. His friend who got on the same train at the same time without a ticket has been sent a £30 fine in the post but no mention of a prosecution. The train company is Arriva Trains. Has anyone any advice that may help.

I would really appreciate some guidance / advice with regard a situation I am in. I was travelling on a Carnet ticket issued by my company and the inpsector suspected that the date had been amended. When I wrote the date on the ticket you couldn't see the date so I did rewrite over the date with a different Biro to make it clearer which in hindsight made it look worse! (I had previously used the old style Carnets which were never a problem as they were paper not the shiney tickets that are now issued - anyway I beleive this is irrelevant). The date I travelled was the 26th and the 6 looked like it could have been changed from a 5. However on the 25th I was out of the country and can prove this, is there any benefit in trying to prove this as part of my defence. When interviewed I answered all the RPI questions but did not mention I was just back in the country so couldn't have previously used the ticket (I was in shock and worried about them contacting my company). Will the Rail company notify my company that I am suspected of this offence as the ticket would have been purchased by them? Also I have now received a letter from the prosecutions department saying that they are reviewing my case with a view to prosecution and I do not know how to respond. Also it does not state what they are thinking of charging me with. I genuinley had never used that ticket before but I don't know how to prove this. However I do recognise that the date written on the ticket was not clear and stated this in the interview. I would be really grateful for some advice as this is really stressing me out and I am struggling to sleep at night! I am woirried how this incident could affect my job! Any comments much appreciated!

Afternoon all, Id appreciate some advice in responding or managing a prosecution letter from SWT. The issue arouse when my partner was travelling and unable to buy a ticket on a Sunday from a small unmanned station. She arrived at Guildford informed the ticket staff who directed her to the entrance of the station to buy one. I knew the time she was arriving and had parked in the drop off/collection point. She saw the que by the ticket machine and could see me in my car waving for her to get in and the que behind. She came out of the station to tell me to move to a more suitable place due to the ques at the machines and was subsequently collared by a Rail Revenue Officer and he went through the process of informing her that she had left the station without intent on buying a ticket etc. Aside from being rather scared as she was read her rights etc and presumed it policeman and as nothing like this has ever happened to her befor. The Officier didn’t give her the chance to explain what had happened and why she had left the station. We have now received a letter from SWT giving us 14 days prosecution department giving her the chance to explain the case. Could anyone help give advice on how to respond please?

Hello everyone I was wondering if someone could give me some advice. I was charged for fare evasion of which I was completely guilty. I admitted this when I was first caught and also in a letter to London Transport when they sent there intent to prosecute me. 3 weeks before my trial I sent the form to the court admitting my guilt apologising for my actions and also letting the court know that I had changed address since the offence and to please send any future correspondance to that address. 2 and a half weeks after my court case I had still not heard anything of the outcome so I rang the court. They had sent the letter to my old address of which I now have no access to. When I asked why this was when I said my change of address with my plea they told me they had never recieved my guilty plea and that I had been tried in my absense. As the guilty plea was not taken into account in court my fine is now £545. This is a first offense and I have never been in trouble before. I have written to the court explaining the circumstances and asking them to review the fine.(And have sent in special delivery this time so I can track it) Is there anything else I can do? Without the letter they sent me I don`t even know when I need to pay the fine by as they won`t tell me over the phone!

Hi all, I have been watching this forum for some time and it has truly been a source of great information, so thank you for that! I have a question relating to benefit fraud. I have a family member who has schizophrenia. Before the diagnosis, he was studying at post grad level and received a loan (approx £8,000) from a charity on the condition that when he finished his studies and started working he would repay it. Shortly after he had a major "episode" and his studies were suspended, and the money remained in an account untouched. He then applied for benefits for the first time, and passed incapacity test etc and was awarded income support and housing benefit etc. He didn't declare this money as he felt it wasn't his, and it remained untouched for several years. His plan was that when his mental health stabilized he would be able to return to study, leave benefits etc, but unfortunately he was very unwell for 5+ years. Fast forward to last year........he had a very severe episode and during this received a letter from DWP stating they had found this capital undeclared and he was called for IUC. This was delayed on medical grounds, and intended that when he was more stable he would attend and explain himself. His benefits were stopped, and he went to stay with family member abroad who has expertise in mental health nursing. He has been away for nearly 18 months and has recently become better mentally. HOWEVER, he is afraid to come back to UK for fear that he will be arrested etc, which would really set him off again. Sorry that this is long, but I'm trying to give as much info as possible. So my question is, if he were to return to UK would this case be reopened, or is there a time limit that once passed they can't restart this investigation? As i said before he didn't attend the IUC in the first place. If he returned and reapplied for benefits would this still be against his name? It has been 18 months now. Many thanks in advance, Sandra

Hi, I did a really stupid thing about 4 years ago. I wasnt in a very good place at the time. I was caught with a childs ticket before boarding the train. When questioned by the ticket inspector I panicked having never done anything like this before. I didnt know my new address at the time, the ticket inspector came down on me like a ton of bricks and to be honest I was very scared of him and the situation I found myself in. I gave him my name and date of birth and my old address I had no forms of ID appart from a medical note which had my details on it. He took the ticket off me and told me I would recieve something in the post. Obviously I never recieved anything as I was no longer at the address. I am so ashamed at my actions. I have read that if you do not respond to anything from them then they may prosecute in your absence. I am in a very different place now, and feel that I must sort this matter out. I now have a child and husband. I would hate to think that this matter would stop us from taking our child on holiday, stop me from applying for certain jobs, hold my husband back due to my stupid action etc. However I have no idea where to start. I have done lots of research however cannot find any answers. I had thought to ring the company and explain the situation, however I am affraid if they have dropped the case I may incriminate myself futher.Having left this for 4 years I feel that its not going to go in any favor of mine. Obviously I am not wanting to get off with anything. I am perfectly willing/happy to pay any fines etc. I am of the understanding that I would recieve a fine and a criminal record, Im concerned about this as I have no idea what happened with this. I know what I did was terrible and would never ever do anything like that ever again. I no longer live in the uk either so it does make it even more difficult to sort this out. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

HELP! Back in April at the Rainham Kent train station I parked my car. Due to poor parking by the car next to me, my car was at a slight angle, meaning i was crossing the white line slightly. I returned to find a £45 penalty notice, which I was furious about - especially since I had paid to park for the day, and was at the furthest end of the car park in any case. I wrote a letter, explaining that I had paid to park and the circumstances of my parking. Today I received a letter saying that under "Railway Byelaw 14, a Parking Charge Notice number was issued because the vehicle was allegedly involved in teh following parking not parked correctly within a marked bay at Rainham Railway Station Car Park ..... It is now too late to pay the 50% discounted rate or appeal. The parking charge now due is £90 and this must be paid in accordance with the instructions below within 14 days of the date of this letter. if you fail to pay this charge in full within 14 days, the charge will increase to £165. Further failure to pay the increased amount will result in a Magistrates Court Summons against you under Railway Byelaws and may result in a Court fine of up to £1000 in addition to any compensation or court costs. A collection order may be made by the court to recover any unpaid penalties.' ----- Help!! Where do i stand with this? is it legitimate?

Help, my son received a notice of prosecution for incorrectly using a child ticket (he's just 18!) from First Capital Connect. He admitted the offence and wrote a sincere letter of apology for his actions and asked to not be prosecuted because of extenuating circumstances, reading difficulties, youth, stupidity and never having committed an offence previously. A letter arrived today dated 3 days ago asking for him to get in contact at his earliest convenience. I have tried the number all day on his behalf, because I wanted the Prosecutions department to know that he was away, could not be contacted and would be in touch as soon as he got back on Monday. I've left messages on the answerphone, but no-one has got back. I then rang FCC customer relations and the man I spoke to said that if I can't get through he should go and see them in person. Does anyone know whether this would help reduce the possibility of him being prosecuted? I am very afraid for him, he is not the sharpest knife in the box and a criminal conviction will reduce his already small chances in life. We don't live near the Prosecutions Department so it will be a big time and expense cost for him to go - which I'm happy for him to do if it's not a waste of time. Would it help if I went with him?

hi new to this but googled this this morning. we had such a shock, last night a notice of intended prosecution arrived for the car my son occasionally use. He passed his test on 12th June and had gone for a drive with one of his friends, he went trough outskirts of a village with a sharp bend and coming around the bend he saw something ? rabbit run out towards his car, he pulled the steering wheel to avoid this and realized he had pulled it too far and by pulling it back oversteered and want up a grass verve and hit lower rung of ranch fence. he stopped and looked, he realized he had knocked the lower run out of the fence but nothing else. He panicked and drove home. all the time he was taking his test driving with me and the instructor he was a very careful drive and indeed i did 1300 + miles with him in the car before he passed. He is such a good lad, he studies hard at college and have two jobs beside this and has managed to secure an apprentice place next year. He is devastated and just panicked thinking how this may have affected his driving and with this his jobs and he would loose the apprenticship for next year. He does of course know that he should have stopped and i have no doubt that he would have done had he thought he had caused any real damage or hit a car or anything else on the road. we have been back to the place and knocked on the door of the house, the son was home and he did not even know there had been any damage and we could see no new repairs to the fence. does anyone have any idea of how likely this may be to go to court? I and he is devastated.

On 12th April my daughter travelled from Brookman's Park to King's Cross. She purchased a return adding the travelcard option which came to £8.60 as she has a 16-25 railcard. As far as I can work out using National Rail's online journey planner this is correct. The route is shown as Brookman's Park to Hatfield and then change for King's Cross. She returned later that day but once on the train from King's Cross to Hatfield got a text from her boyfriend saying he could pick her up at Hatfield as he'd finished work early. There was a revenue inspector at Hatfield and she went straight up to speak to him asking if it was OK to end her journey early on this ticket. He immediately told her he would not let her through unless she paid a penalty fare and the cost of a ticket from Brookman's Park to Hatfield. She said she would therefore carry on to Brookman's Park but he took her ticket. She was asking why and he just kept saying 'because I'm not letting you'. She asked to speak to a supervisor for an explanation at which point he took her name and address, cautioned her and she is now being prosecuted under section 18 of the byelaws. We wrote to FCC in response to their initial letter but only got court summons in return. Will someone who understands the convoluted rail rules PLEASE explain what she did wrong. As far as we can work out she did have a valid ticket for travel and on checking the conditions of carriage you are allowed to end a journey early unless you have an advance ticket. Although the inspector took her ticket we do still have the receipt.

Hello, I am seeking advice on a situation involving a prosecution letter from London Midland which reads as follows: Dear Mr. ***, On **th May 2012, a person giving the above name and address was questioned by a member of staff with regard to an alleged incident on London Midland Railway. This matter has been provisionally authorised for prosecution. Before I proceed further, I invite you to respond by completing in full the bottom section of this letter, making any comments about the incident on the reverse, and send it to the above address within seven days. Failure to respond will lead to the matter being progressed without further notification. I am then aske to provide my name, adress, whether I wa the person that travelled, phone number, occupation and NI number. Although the letter says seven days, my Dad has phoned London Midland to explain to them that he has had to send the letter to my university address (which I originally gave them, but they could not verify, as I live on campus, so searching for the university address on a database would probably come up with the Post Room address), and they have kindly extended the deadline for reply by a couple of weeks to allow for this. The incident was that I was travelling from Canley to Birmingham New Street for some temporary work at the ICC. At Canley, the ticket office was closed and the permit to travel machine was out of order, so I assumed I would be able to purchase a ticket on the train. However, there was no conductor passing on the train, so I did not get the opportunity. The train arrived late at New Street, causing me to panic about being late for work. My mental state at the time was not helped by a lack of sleep due to hot weather and stress over university exams that were five days away, which I felt severly underprepared for and feared failing and not being allowed back next year. As such, the added worry of being late to work meant my head was all over the place and was not thinking clearly at all. Amongst the crowd, I did not see anyone being checked for tickets, so I thought I would be able to purchase the ticket for both journeys on my return (which I now understand was an incredibly stupid thought). However, there were ticket officers there and I was asked to show a ticket, which I obviously couldn't. I then made what was intended to be a light hearted joke of "Could've got away with one there!", which was an incredibly idiotic and inappropriate comment to make and one I don't believe I would have made if not under so much pressure at the time. I think the officer took it in the manner it was intended and didn't seem bothered when I went back to go to the temporary ticket stand to by the ticket. However, whilst in the queue, another woman came up to me and asked where I had travelled from. I answered Canley and she said "come with me" and took me back to the officer who took my details and asked me a series of questions including "What did you mean by "I could've got away with that one"? to which I replied "Without paying for a ticket." He also asked me how I would have bought a ticket had he not been there, to which I replied "On my return journey". Another question was "From what I have gathered it seems that you attempted to exit the station without purchasing a ticket. Is this correct?" I replied yes to this as it is the honest answer as I was attempting to get out of the station as quickly as possible to avoid being late for work, so didn't want to get into any further arguments, which probably would only have led to me saying something similar anyway. After these questions, I was told I would be receiving a letter and to carry on. I started to go back to the queue to pay for the ticket, when the officer stopped me and said to just go through the barriers. I again attempted to purchase the ticket for both journeys on my return, but was refused by the lady on the temporary ticket office as she said I should've had to pay a penalty fare at the time due to the inspectors, so I could only buy the ticket for the trip back. I am a university student possibly looking to go into a career teaching maths and physics, so am scared that if I am prosecuted, a criminal record would prevent me doing any modules or courses required for me to pursue this career path. I am a regular user of the train, probably averaging one trip a week since arriving at uni in October, and have paid for every trip, whether at Canley, by permit to travel, on the train or at the destination and have a stack of these tickets dating back to January. This one isolated incident has been such a dissapointing episode for me, which has caused me stress throughout and after my busy exam period. I have never been in this situation before, and am unsure how to progress. I obviously want to avoid court to avoid a criminal record and would be more than happy to pay any fine they give me to do so, as seems to be the recommended course of action on similar threads. Firstly, I would like advice on the manner in which to respond. I assume a letter of apology, explanation and offer of settlement is what I should do. Should I handwrite the letter on the back of the form with the explanation of the incident, or type up the letter separately, leaving just the explanation on the back of the letter? Also, should I include photocopies of some of my tickets to show that I am a regular paying customer? I would also appreciate your opinions on whether my foolish comment to the inspector have basically ruined any chance I have of preventing this going to court. Thanks in advance and I apologise that my first post on this forum is such a long one about an embarrasing moment of stupidity. Dan

Hi, I have just received my prosecution letter from London Midland which reads, "On the 9th May 2012 a person giving the above name and address was questioned by a member of rail staff with regard to an alleged incident on London Midland Railway. This matte has been previously authorised fr prosecution. Before I proceed further, I invite you to respnd completely in full the bottom section of this letter, making any comments about the incident on the reverse, and send it to the above address within seven days. Failure to respond will lead to the matter being progressed without further notification" What happened is as follows. I was on my way to the University of Birmingham station from Five Ways to sit an exam. Pushed for time I only had enough in change for a child fare and so purchased one to save time. As I went through the barriers the guard asked to see my ticket and seeing it was the wrong fare commenced to prosecute me. At the time I probably didn't act accordingly because of the shock of the situation and the stress of failing to get to my exam ontime. Therefore I wasn't really taking in what he was saying and asking as I was overcome with panic. I just gave him my details and paid for a adult fare with my debit card and managed to get to my exam in time. I never purchase a child fare in order to avoid paying the higher fee, apart from this exception and have used the same journey pretty much everyday for my first year at univeristy. Even in this instane it was just for convenience and not to fare dodge, but obviously the guard didn't buy that. In this situation I can clearly see that I was in the wrong, although I do feel a prosecution is slighlty harsh. Just wondering how to respond to the letter? Should I write this collection of events on the letter and offer to pay any fees to prevent it going further? Any help is thoroughly appreciated.

Dear all, This is really urgent, I received a letter asking for my version of events for travelling on a bus without a ticket. I sent off the letter but forgot to write down the contact numbers on them, I believe they start with 0203 or 0207. Has anyone who has received a letter for explaining their version of events or summons to court letter have the contact numbers? I really do need to speak to someone. I know they are in South East London, but really do need their contact number. Can someone please help me.

Hi there, I had a NIP posted to the wrong address on 7.4.11, but I moved house in May of that same year. From May to August 2011, I stayed in temporary housing (but continued to collect my post from the old house). Then I moved into new house, where I was was (eventually) sent a Court Summons in February 2012, for which I attended Court on 12th March. However, there was NO prosecution lawyer, so the case was adjourned until 31st May. Am I STILL liable for the original speeding offence, or have they run out of time?

Hi there, I am very worried about the situation i may be in. Last week i was travelling from cambridge to Kings cross and i bought a ticket for a return with a 16-25 railcard. At the time i did not check , but my rail card was out of date on Oct 30. I only realised that the railcard was invalid at the time when the inspector asked for my ticket. I understood my mistake but did not have enough money to pay for the ticket at the time. So i was issued with a caution. I answered all questions without hesitation. The only thing at the end was that i asked for the railcard back and he would not give it to me, i said surely he was not aloud to keep my property but then he said that it is the rails property so i let him keep it. I have now received an intention to prosecute and i am so scared, i don not want a criminal record, i am only 21 i have never been in trouble with the law i am very worried. If charged will i defiantly get a criminal record or will i just have to pay the costs? Please help!!

It all happen when i got on a c2c train from barking to upminster I touched in at the gates at barking got on the train to Upminster during the journey rail inspector asked for my ticket which I handed for checking but it wasn’t reading I opened up the sleeve to remove all the cards to find my oyster missing it had slipped into an inner pocket it took several minutes to actually locate the oyster card. I buy each week zones 3 to 6, which expires on Sunday I had sufficient funds on my oyster to pay for my single journey fare to Upminster i had about £13 with the intention of purchasing my weekly 3 to 6 zones later on that morning, which I offered to do but was declined and told I didn’t have the cash at hand to do so. i was given any caution of what act i had committed before my 'rights' where read and i was then asked questions upon questions because i didnt understand what was happening my oyster was taken away, there were a couple of whispers among the inspectors in which i felt very intimidated i was not issued a penalty fare but a prosecution notice. i have never been caught fare evading, cctv footage will clearly show me tapping in. i was made to feel like a criminal i dont earn much so i have to budget, it had never crossed my mind to evade a fare when i clearly had the means to pay and i think the inspectors were quite upset they had to get off the train with me cos one of them was mubberling they could have sorted this all out on the train before reachin upminster which is like a 6 minute journey. sorry for the long story but i feel so helpless and need advice asap. thank you

Hi there, Like some advice please. I am a mature medical student. Been abroad many years, and only since August back in the UK in a new area I've never been in before. I have over-riden one stop on my train season ticket. My aim was to attend a one-off academic event in the evening, being held one stop past my usual return destination after university. I was late for my train and I saw no conductor on my journey, which didn't worry me as I assumed I could pay my extension to my season ticket at the destination. This is where my ignorance lies. I asked railway staff if I could pay on my way out, I didn't try to make a dash. The amount would be under £2. I had my monthly season ticket confiscated (worth over £80). I had to buy another monthly the next day. I was questioned brusquely under caution. A colleague from my medical course was screamed at and asked to leave the area by security, because she clarified a question by the Revenue Protection Officer that was unclear, and that I had misunderstood. I acted reasonably and with complicity throughout, although I was a little guarded as we are trained not to accept police cautions as medical students. I am awaiting a letter from the Prosecution Dept. Yesterday (a day after the incident), I wrote a conciliatory email to the train company outlining my regret, my intention never to make the mistake again, and a request for leniency due to my medical student status. I kept to the truth and have an independent witness to corroborate my entire story, including the fact that it was always my intention to pay. I am of the belief that it is sometimes possible to pay extension tickets at this station, for instance in rush hour. I am intending to take some independent legal advice, either through CAB or via a CFA accredited solicitor. The cheaper option the better, for my student pocket. It is my belief that it's unlikely they will take me to court (although they could), and that they will likely issue me with a fine. My questions are thus: 1. What are the likely outcomes of this scenario? How much could I be fined? 2. Why would my season ticket be confiscated, as well as a prosecution considered? Is this normal? 3. I have been told that it is best to pay any fine, then go through the appeals process. Anybody have any views or 4. I am considering contacting my MP, as I feel my treatment was overtly aggressive and the company are abusing their power by implementing incongruous fines (e.g I could be fined £200+ for a 5. Are certain rail companies more aggressively pursuing fare-dodging than others? What is the rationale behind this and what effect is it having? 6. Are there a set of regulations or 'best practice' guidelines around penalty fares/prosecutions? What rail companies are signed up to these? Is there a level of consistency for certain offences? 7. If the case went to court, am I correct in thinking that the burden of proof is on the rail company providing proof that I intended to not pay my fare? What is my status here? 8. What reason would a Rail Company have for choosing not to issue a penalty fare, rather than going through this long-winded process? Would they really go to court for a fare this small? 9. Any further advice around my status as med student/prosecution status gratefully appreciated. Thanks everyone for your time. Ryan

Hi everyone, I have received a letter from Southern railway stating that I am being prosecuted. I;m sure by now you know the letter layout so I won't put what in it. Here is the reason it has arrived. On the 5th December 2011 I boarded the train at my local station which doesn't have barriers. I arrived at London Victoria and when i tried to get through the barriers my Oyster card didn't work. I went to the ticket office to see why it wasn't working and he said that the travel card had expired. I apologised and said that I had only recently gone from a yearly travel card to a monthly and asked when the card had expired which he informed me was on Saturday 3rd December. I explained that as I don’t use the card over the weekend I wouldn’t have seen that it had expired until that morning and as there are no barriers at my local station it was only brought to my attention when I was trying to enter Victoria. I asked if I could get a new monthly travel card to which he said no. I asked why and he said he needed to take some information from me first. I questioned why this was needed and his tone changed instantly. He said that if I didn’t provide my personal details then he would call the police and I would be arrested. I gave my details and he said he is going to put forward a case for me to be taken to court. I'm a tad worried as I would prefer to not have a criminal record for a basic human error. If anyone has any advice it would be very greatly appriciated. -M

Hello, your help would be much appreciated. I recently travelled on a Chiltern Railways train out of Marylebone and was threatened with prosecution for attempting to re-use a ticket i later realised had already been used. This was a genuine inadvertent attempt as my wallet is always rammed full of unexpired tickets as i don't always use return legs. However, in this case, clearly according to their technology i had already used it. Here's what happened... After being thwarted at the barrier, I asked one of the train employees nearby why it didn't work (at this stage i was genuinely confused as to why the barrier had not opened when the ticket was in-date), he scanned the ticket and told me that it had already been used. After some general confusion and bewilderment by me, he then requested my details (name, address and d.o.b.) which i wrote on a scrap bit of paper he handed me. At this point, i thought he was going to let me through and send me proof/details of the journey via post and, if it were shown that i had used the ticket, a bill/fare notice etc. This was not the case, however, as he then explained that my details were to be passed to their legal team to decide on whether i should be prosecuted. I was now in shock, although remained calm and was never rude, aggressive or obtuse. He was not wearing a name badge and so i asked what his name was. He initially said that i didn't need his name as it was nothing to do with him: i was going to be dealing with the legal/prosecution team, he said. But after a repeated request he wrote his name on a scrap of paper. (FYI - I was not issued with a penalty notice or summons and was given no official warning/caution or confirmation receipt/notice etc.) By this stage, i had missed the train i had planned to get and so with nothing more to say i walked off to the main waiting area of the station and waited for the next train. When the next train arrived i used another of the unstamped in-date tickets in my wallet and, fortunately, the barriers opened...! N.B. Chiltern railways seemingly check and stamp/mark tickets about 99% of the time, and so when i pulled out an unstamped ticket from my wallet i naturally assumed it hadn't been used. What can i expect to happen? Will i get some sort of penalty fare (although i'm not sure how this would work because Chiltern Railways hasn't lost out i.e. i wasn't actually aboard the train) or will they prosecute? I've read stories that these companies take a 'zero tolerance' approach. Please, please advise?? This was a genuine mistake. I totally unknowingly and unwittingly attempted to use the ticket a second time. I am not a "fare dodger" and feel that this could be proved by looking at my recent travel, backed up by ticket purchases. I have no previous convictions and have never received a penalty fare notice before. Thank you very much in advance for your help. Best regards, Chiltern Traveller!