I have discovered your site investigating what to do in this case and would sincerely appreciate your help. I will offer feedback and donate for your time and energy. I really need your help. I used my mums oyster after losing my wallet and needed to get to a wedding over a weekend. When returning into London, the high value pass obviously flagged things to the inspectors who were waiting at the station. I had all my details taken. The inspector understood I'd lost my wallet and I didn't answer any further questions. I was sent a letter with a fine and a conviction if i plead guilty. The problem with these cases, is that whether or not I did it unwittingly (as in, didn't realise I was using a high value pass) it doesn't matter. It was a misuse and the conviction stands. I can't have a conviction hanging over my head and the thought of it fills me with absolute dread. I have just recently gained a permanent residency in Canada and intend eventually to work in the States and a conviction would be so detrimental to have on my record and affect my work situation. I am so deeply regretful for something so stupid and avoidable. I have received a letter stating the fine i have to pay and the fact that it will go on my record and like the other cases stated here on the forum, can either plead guility and pay the fine or plead not guilty and prove my innocence, which isn't possible. What are the options available to me? Can I call them and ask to appeal? Should I hire a solicitor before it's too late? (I have roughly 10 days before the deadline now). Is settling on the day the last option available and should I get a solicitor before that time to make sure that I don't risk it not going in my favour on the final day? How often are people able to settle on the day in your opinion? What does a settlement amount normally come to? I really appreciate your help on this. I've just returned to London to the letter and have limited time to respond and would like to know the best way to reach out to TFL. Will a letter take too long. I think so. Should I simply call them or go via a solicitor? It seems that no matter what people do with their letters, it always comes back with a conviction and fine. I was going to call citizens advice first thing tomorrow, but if you can recommend a solicitor please do. i live in London. Many thanks

Hi, can anyone offer any advice please? I've been working for this company for over 3 years and disclosed an unspent conviction on my application form, both online and on paper. Earlier this year I had to complete a Disclosure Scotland form and the conviction came back listed. I've had a quick meeting with management but at the time I genuinely thought the conviction had become spent. However, on further investigation, it is still unspent. I've since apologised to managers about my mistake and they said they'd get back to me but have not done so as yet. Does anyone know what the possibilities might be and, if adverse, how I can go about challenging them, please?

on 28/5/15 I was monitored speeding in Devon whilst returning on leave to Linc\'s from RN base in Plymouth, I was offered a speed awareness course which was transferred from Devon to Linc\'s I completed the course 26/8/2015 at the driver training centre in Linc's LN4 4DG which negated any fine/points. Information is available on Police national database. Just to make things clearer I used my mothers address whilst in the RN for mailing purposes. On 29/5/2015 Bank holiday Sunday my mother received a visit from a magistrates enforcement officer working for a company called Marston holdings, (luckily my father was visiting her at the time) the EA was showing that I had been sentenced by Devon magistrates on the 17/2/16 to a speeding fine for the same incident, he had a warrant of control/removal notice, my father refused him entry into the house, EA said he would return with a locksmith to gain entry, my father informed him that I don't actually live at the address and that he had no further knowledge of the case. my father contacted me and I spoke to the EA by phone and gave him my address and explained the court error but with no satisfactory outcome, my father sort legal advice online and was advised to pay the court judgement fine £327 and to reclaim the money when the court realised the error, but not to pay the bailiffs charges of £310, my father phoned the EA and told him he'd paid the fine to prevent any further action, the EA became annoyed and wasn't satisfied, he said that he will be reapplying to the court and that in 48hours he would have another enforcement notice to force entry into my address to remove property to the value of his fees. my father also lives at the same address as me and is registered disabled and does not want the EA removing any of his property as well as mine, as without receipts for every thing it's hard to prove who owns what, there's obviously been a gross error in the courts administration regarding this case. I have been advised to sign a Stat/Dec but would this not imply that I am responsible for the police/magistrates wrongful conviction is there a quick solution to deal with this. Any help would great.

Dear all, I desperately need advise ... here is my situation (long text as i am writing a complete recollection of what happened): On Saturday 24 October 2015 i received a letter through the box from Collection and Compliance Titled "Further Steps notice" In essence it says that since i have failed to make payments as directed following steps will be taken ... a few lines of VERY scary stuff. After that they give me 10 days to pay 800 pounds or the scary stuff will start to happen. Now this comes as a complete shock i had NO idea what this is about. On Monday i called them and they told me that there has been a court case against me and they have been ordered to collect this money by the court. I have never been aware there is a court case to begin with. They put the collection on hold for 28 days and gave me case reference number. On Monday 26 October 2015 i went to Levender Hill court to check what is this all about. I was told the following that the current case against me is for failure to provide information to the DVLA related to traffic violation or accident in addition to that for failure to show up in court and a few other failures related to the fact i never got anything. I asked what adress all of this was sent out and they gave my old address. They said that one of the notices were sent september. After talking with a friend he said i should check my V5C i just did that and it is on the new address. I checked the dat eof the document and it is 29 04 15. This should mean april, if they sent the stuff in September no idea why they were trying my old address. I also checked my driving license and it is on the new address since April as well. I made a Statuory statement .. or something like that not sure what it was named, that said i never received anything and the first time i becase aware of this issue was Saturday 24-th. They took my details and scheduled a court date for 10-th of November. I still have nothing through the post 29 October 2015 and i still do not know what the original offense is. All they said that the current case is for failure to provide information which carries 6 points and 660 pounds fine the rest is fines for not showing up and not paying when asked first time around. This is as much as i can say right now and as much as i remember. I am completely lost. Never been involved in accidents, i have one speeding ticket in my entire life from 5 years ago and it never went on my record as i took the speed awareness course. Neither have i ever had problems with the police ... so you can imagine how scary this all feels right now. Any advice is very welcome, initially i thought of just going to the court and being honest but i was advised by friends and also someone sort of related to law that i should not do that and i definitely need advise especially since its has gotten to the court and one needs to know what and how to say ... so here i am.

I have read several similar cases on the forum, such as speranza's in April 15; but it is sometimes down to how the question is asked and by who, so any valuable comments are much appreciated. In short, I was caught by TFL inspector at tube station attempting to travel on London Underground without having a previously paid fare of £4 in Aug 2012, which was a silly mistake really. I plead guilty and apologised sincerely for it in court and was given a conditional discharge for the offence, stating that as long as i do not commit an offence during the next 12 months from the date of the order (Feb 2013,) then I will not be punished. By definition, a conditional discharge is a sentence that diminishes the finding of guilt in which the offender receives no punishment provided that, in a period set by the court (not more than three years), no further offence is committed. If an offence is committed in that time, then the offender may also be resentenced for the offence for which a conditional discharge was given. Under criminal law, a conditional discharge does not constitute a conviction unless the individual breaches the discharge and is resentenced. And under 322(1C)(iv) you will be rejected if you had, within the 24 months prior to the date on which the application is decided, been convicted of or admitted an offence for which they have received a non-custodial sentence or other out of court disposal that is recorded on their criminal record 1. I will declare this in my ILR application as; a. Given it is a spent conditional discharge, so even though I am not convicted this offence, but still admitted. b. Given the court order was issued in Feb 2013, 322(1C)(iv) will not apply to my application in Jun 2015. 2. I am also asked "Have you ever been convicted of a criminal offence, including spent convictions or cautioned by the police?" on my application as a registered traveller (by UK Border Force.) Am I right to answer "No." Thanks in advance for all the help in advance.

I am at a loss for words. The main facts: My car was due for renewal in 1 week and I had to be away for work. I parked my car in a residential area that I thought was off the road, whilst away for 3 weeks. When I returned, the car had gone. I reported it stolen and was told that the car was impounded. As the tax disc was out of date, the council had the car scrapped. The car was my only mode of transport and had a lot of items with sentimental value in it. Almost four years later (I had moved house during this time) I received a letter from bailiffs saying that I owed £400+ magistrates fine. Apparently I had been convicted in my absence for keeping an unlicensed vehicle. The DVLA would like me to pay £50 extra as a fine to waive the £400+ magistrates fine. They seem to be ignoring the fact that my vehicle and its content were destroyed and discarded. Can they do this? Do I now have a criminal record? Please help.

Hi, I hope there's a legal eagle or two about that can clarify something for me. I was convicted of an offence at Magistrates court in 2010 and given a fine to pay. At that time the rehabilitation period for that offence was 5 years. Now I'm led to believe some changes have been made in essence reducing rehabilitation periods whereby my rehabilitation period has been reduced to just 1 year. I have just offered a new job and the employer has asked me to fill out a Disclosure Scotland form. I'm very concerned as to whether my Disclosure Form is likely to come back with my conviction still unspent. My belief is that the changes came into effect in late 2013. Further, if that is the case is the employer likely to retract the job offer made to me? Incidentally my offence was nothing to do with fraud or theft or anything of that kind.

I would like some advice about a situation my nephew is currently in. This week in our local paper under the Magistrates named & shamed bit my nephews name appeared for the following offence: Failed to deliver notification of transfer of a vehicle to a person who was not a vehicle trader. Fined £200, costs £110. T he address given for my nephew was his mother's address which he left in difficult circumstances 18 months ago. This was the first he had heard of any court proceedings as he obviously hasn't received any letters about it as they would have gone to his mothers address, plus he has never owned a vehicle, in fact he only has a provisional licence. We suspect his mother has something to do with this. She is no stranger to fraud and dishonest behaviour. I have spent the last 2 years clearing my mums name for unpaid mobile phone accounts and pay day loans she took out using my mums name so no love lost there. As soon as my nephew was old enough she used hs name to get catalogue credit etc so he has no credit rating now either! I have also been told that she posted on FB that " after 18 months what goes around has finally come around" so she is obviously feeling pleased with herself. My nephew has phoned the Magistrates, they said the only thing they could tell him was it related to a "large" vehicle like a van, people carrier or a 4 x4 but he needs to write to DVLA to explain the circumstances & ask them to write to the court to have the conviction set aside. As I said he has never owned a vehicle so it is definitely not his. Has anyone come across this situation before and can give advice on what will happen next? He obviously has no court paperwork or any documentation whatsoever. Also is there anything I can do to find out more about the vehicle this relates to with a view to finding out who has done this?. Any help would be appreciated

Back in 2003 I was living in Crumpsall and working in Manchester. One morning there was a guy who kicked off on the Metro with the guy that checks tickets and as there was a lot of shoving involved, which I got caught up in, I can only assume I managed to pull the ticket out of my coat pocket when I was pushed into and removed my hands to steady myself. Anyway as this happened close to Victoria station the guy was hauled off and a second ticket guy gets on. I get asked for my ticket and I can't find it so I get hauled off too. I was given the option to pay a standard fare at that point (£10 or £20 I think) or get billed for a penalty fare or something. As I couldn't pay (I didn't have the money and was worrying how I'd get home without my return ticket as I'd left my wallet in the house) I had to take the second option. The woman who was taking my details was extremely slow, and by the time I managed to walk the rest of the distance to work I was an 90 minutes late. As I'd recently started and I was within my probationary period they cancelled my contract, although they gave me two months salary and wrote off the remaining half of the sub they'd given me which I was paying back. Anyway, I gave my notice at the place I was renting and handed the keys back with the loss of my deposit, and then moved in with my then girlfriend in Cleethorpes. About 3 months later I get a phonecall from the lettings agent to say that some "official looking mail" had turned up and to let her have my address and she'd send them. I thought they may just be letters for BT and British Gas as I'd not payed them, but I was just waiting for payment from my new job before I paid them (my girlfriend had two kids so I considered myself jointly responsible so I was happy to let them wait so I knew I could put food on the table). I left the package that had turned up from the letting agent until my first pay day came (3 weeks away), and then opened it. Inside were court documents. They related to the penalty ticket from the metro operators, then a court summons, a notice of fines etc that had been awarded by default and a load of other stuff. I immediately rang the police to find out if there was a warrant out on me for non-payment and I think the police said there was, but when I explained the situation they said for me to get my backside down to the court and file a stat dec. I did this and a few days later pled my case to the magistrates requesting they quashed everything as I'd failed to receive any of the documentation or the summons and basically appealing to the judges' better nature. Happy days! They accepted it and I was told it had been quashed, but if the original claimants wished to pursue it again they could, and there would be a note made that any documents would be served by court bailiff to ensure I was where I said I was. I heard nothing more. I'm going to apply for a job which will require an ECRB in a high secure facility, which will require me to disclose all convictions - "spent" or not. Now as far as I'm aware, the fact that I was fined means that I have/had a criminal conviction against me for fare dodging. Will this be on my ECRB report or not, what would it show up as, and if it is would it show as quashed or with the reasons? I'm not afraid to admit to it, but I don't know whether to put it down on the answer to do I have any criminal convictions. I'm not afraid to mention it because it's hardly anything, but I don't want to miss it out and answer no and then it look like I'm hiding something trivial. Any advice appreciated.

I was wondering what peoples experience was with life after a conviction (being guilty), how have you managed to shake off the guilt and shame of people knowing what you have done (and the guilt and shame that you have yourself), and any tips on gaining employment? Any useful organisations? Thank you

I was stopped on the 28th/07/2012 by a van of police officer, all white males i might add, i was taking a family friends car to my address as she was going on holiday and left the car in my care while she was away,' i honestly believe i was racially profiled', while driving i can blatantly see the officer set eyes upon me and decided to follow me but they didn't stop me straight away, from my comprehension they were doing police computer checks on me, they followed for a while and must have realised that the car has not been reported stolen and has tax, insurance on the car! but they made a decision to stop me anyways, i protested im being stopped under duress but from nowhere the officer got really heavy handed so i complied with there unreasonable demands while they got me out of the car and into there van and proceeded to ask all sorts of stupid question that doesn't relate to the matter of why did they stop me in the first place. they never answered my question and told me that the car will be impounded and i will have to foot the costs in order to get the car out of a forensic police car pound. after many troubles in order to get the car out of the pound after about a week going back and forth from the car pound i ended up paying over 400.00 pounds and finally got the car back as it wasn't mines. and taught that was it, now i didnt realise that on the 25/02/2013 i was being convicted for IN10 on the 28/07/2012 which is for driving without insurance, as i've moved address between the dates stated above i didn't received any summons so was unaware of the proceeding carried out by the court concerned, it is not difficult to imagine how ****ed i was when i learnt that this situation has lead to me having 6 points on my licence , and only learned this as i'm applying to become a bus driver. this at present is highly annoying and i would be very appreciative for any help on this matter, because i'm trying to prepare to go to court to make a statutory declaration regarding my situation. thanks in advance

hi, i was charged with a drink driving offense back in 2003. Now i need a letter from the relevant authorities saying that my conviction has been spent. How do i do that? Any links or phone numbers will be appreciated. thank you in advance, craig

hi, i was convicted of a drink driving offense in 2003. From where can i get the details about the date of conviction? i forgot the date and i need it for home office application. Thank you

I used my grans freedom pass and got caught. I have phoned/emailed tirelessly to try and settle out of court but they are not backing down. I offered to pay triple the fine but its seems they just want to prosecute me. I don't care the fine I just can handle that I will get a criminal record as this is my first ever incident with the law and I am a student When is your trial date? have you settled out of court?

Hi i posted this up on another message board but think it was the wrong one, im a bit lost, anyway here is the message i wanted an answer to, hopefully someone can help,, a friend of mine wants to apply to be the main registara of BDM in our church, the church has said this is ok even though he has a benefit fraud conviction going back 15 years, i didn't think you could apply for such a position with this conviction, on another form for another position he ticked the box for convictions with a no, he said he doesn't have to declare it as it was 15 years ago?, my friends wife is worried he may get into trouble for not declaring he has a conviction.