Hi, I have a hearing on this Thursday 2nd August for Fare Evasion using my Father's Freedom Pass to travel on London Undergrond. I have tried to settle the matter out of court by writing to the TFL three times but they have rejected my appeal. Kindly help me prepare a Letter of Mitigation for the court. Also I want to check if the court verifies the Statement of Income and Outgoings? I want to avoid writing my correct occupation if possible as I am scared to impact on my job. Please give me further information about this. Also will I definitely get a Criminal Record and will this show up on CRB check? Please reply to the post as soon as possible as I have to send the paperwork to Court today.

I recently received a notice of intention to prosecute from First Capital Connect, where they explained my case of ticket dodging and what the maximum penalties that can be imposed on me. I sent them a letter to explain the situation and they replied back saying they will be continuing with the case. However, I was travelling on the same journey again and was checked again by another Revenue Protection Officer. I explained the whole case to him and his opinion. He stated that going to court was the last possible option the Company would pursue. The Prosecutions Department did out of court settlements. And so, my question was, considering the on-fare was £20, what would be an appropriate amount for an out of court settlement? Thanks a lot!

Hi all, Hoping someone will give me some advise. I have been summoned to court for fare evading with the intent to avoid payment. I travel almost everyday from London Waterloo to Farnborough Main Station for the past six months. On a Monday morning I was caught up in the underground with delays longer than expected and reached London Waterloo with very few minutes to spare till I miss my train, and be late to my meeting at a new job. The queues at the self service ticket machines were extremely long (although they are supposed to be 3-5mins wait). So I boarded the train without a ticket with the assumption I can buy on the train. Throughout my commute in the six months, I have bought several times from inductors on the train and each time have happily sold to me. Unfortunately this occasion I was unable to purchase on the train. So my assumption is I can buy from the excess ticket office at Farnborough Main. I couldn't find anyone on the platform to tell them I didn't have a ticket, so I went to the guard to let me through. His colleague then stopped and questioned me, why I travelled without a ticket in the first place. Although he was extremely rude and unhelpful, he interrogated me with my full intent to avoid paying a £12 fare! I explained my underground trains were delayed, and the self service machines had long queues. Therefore, assumed I could buy on the train like I usually do so I could make my meeting. He then mentioned I have been lucky in the past that guards issue me tickets on board. I have bank statements showing prior to this incident, approximately 8 a month have been issued on the train by guards. I offered to pay the full fare for a ticket and a penalty. He would not let me. He took my details and now I have been summoned to court with S.5(3)(a) of the Regulations of Railyways Act 1889 Can anyone please advise what I should do? Thank you!!!

Hi last week, I was caught using my brothers 18+ discount card by a ticket officer. He took my details and said that i would receive a letter from TFL. My question is are they going to prosecute if I was given a penalty fare two years go, and if I explain what happened that day would they return my brothers oyster card, i'm worried sick.

am i correct in my understanding that a fortnight's worth of fair evasion on a monthly season travelcard ticket that does not belong to someone (I borrowed my mum's when she was away on holiday and got caught) would be calculated on an individual or per day rate? (because this is what i was told by the revenue protection person who interviewed me) what i am saying is that i admitted that i used the ticket and it wasn't mine, but now they are saying that I have to pay 14 times the cost of a daily travelcard - one for each day i had it in my posession. whilst i accept what i did was wrong and i make no excuse for what i did it seems illogical that they would charge single travel card fares each time for a return journey. I didn't even use the travel card bit because my colledge is only a few stops up the road from me. I am willing to pay the cost of a weekly or 1/2 of the monthly rate, but charging me each day individually doesnt make sense. Also I didnt go to college for 3 of those days because I was in France with my dad (i have proof of this), do i still have to pay that because the ticket was in my posession therfore i could've used it, or do they have to prove i used it each day? I am asking this because i want to know how i can calculate what money i owe so that i am prepared for it. i have been interviewed and they said they will make a decision next week but i have the option to try to negotiate a settlement before they escalate it to a court. so i need to work out what they will calculate it as so that i can match of give them a better settlement offer. Any advice anyone can give would be very gratefully received. It was such a stupid thing of me to do but i thought at the time that if my mum wasn't using in then it would be ok for me to use it instead. I know now that it was a stupid assumption to make but i accept that i was wrong and i know i have to face the consequences. thank you in advance and i will keep you posted as to what happens in case other people find it helpful

Hello, I was recently caught in a first class part of the train with a standard class ticket and a ticket inspector booked me there and then. I didn't have my wallet with on me so I couldn't pay the remainder of the fare. Yesterday I received a court summons and a date. I'm assuming that if I show up to court and plead guilty that I'll have a criminal record? I'm extremely anxious about this for several reasons. Firstly I'm planning a big trip to the USA in September and secondly my career. I called a solicitor who said there would be a 90% chance he could make sure I didn't end up with a criminal conviction/record, but obviously it comes with a hefty price tag. Can anyone please advise me what they think I should do?

Hi, The other day I was caught without a ticket once I had left the train, I was cautioned and had a statement taken. If I would have stopped to get a ticket before boarding I would have missed it so thought I would get one from the conductor, who never reached me. I know that this shouldnt be done and that you should purchase from stations when available and I am not disputing the fact that Northern have a case against me. I have not yet received a letter but when I do does it always end up in court or can you settle out of court?

Hi everybody, I have spent the past four days going over all the older posts concerning similar problems and have found them to be a wealth of information and support. I have a problem with first capital connect and their likely hood to prosecute for fare evasion and I'm am going around the bend! I have not yet found any posts with my particular set of circumstances, so any help and advice would be fantastic. So I'll try and make this as concise as possible; last Friday morning I boarded the train at my local station and it was busy as usual, the doors opened and I stepped on and the first class section was just to my left. I didn't actively seek out this section it just happened to be there. I went in with three other people and sat down in one of the available seats. Before I had even looked at my paper and I don't think the train had even left the station an inspector came in and checked my ticket and the three other people who had done exactly as I had. I didn't have a valid ticket for first class (just a travel card) and should have paid the penalty fare when requested to do so by the inspector. I fully admit I was in the wrong and looking back now I can't believe I have been such an idiot, but it gets worse. One of the four paid the penalty fare straight away and I decided to try and argue my case with the other three, we all got off at the next stop with the inspector. The other couple paid their penalty fare after a few minutes arguing and left. Which is exactly what I should have done. Again the inspector asked me if I was willing to pay the penalty fare, I replied no (I will give reasons later) he then asked me my name and address and I supplied my old address. I now know that this was the worst possible thing I could have done and have been kicking myself for the past week for being so stupid. The inspector made his phone call to verify the details I gave and when he started to ask more questions about what flat number etc I told him I lied to him so he hung up his call. I apologised and offered to then pay the penalty fare but he told me I had my chance and a penalty fare was now not an option. I then supplied my correct details and he interviewed me under caution (all done correctly to the best of my recollection) and told me to expect a letter in the post detailing was action would be taken. I apologised again and he left. I am now petrified, I can't sleep and am so worried that I will get a criminal record that has the potential to destroy a career that I have worked so hard for as it requires extensive travel to the states. I can't believe that one moment of complete and utter madness on my part could cause so much trouble. The reason I initially refused to pay, and was so annoyed was because I had just paid FCC £34.50 for an overdue penalty fare two days before. I know this looks really bad for me but I promise you I am not an habitual fare evader, I am an habitual travel card forgetter! I got to the barriers at my destination station and realised that I didn't have my travel card. I spoke to a lady at the gate and she took down my details and charged me £5.50 to cover a single from where I came from and was very sympathetic. I didn't realise at the time that I was to pay the balance of £14.50 within a set time frame. A month or two later I returned from holidays and found a reminder to pay the outstanding £14.50 from this incident. As I had been away I now only had a week left to pay I tried the phone line to pay the remaining balance and got no answer and then left it a few days. I then tried the number again about 10 times over two days and each time there was no answer and even got a recorded message saying that due to heavy call volume they were no longer receiving calls. I eventually got through a day after the deadline and was obviously pretty annoyed at having to pay an additional admin fee for failing to pay on time. All this happened two days before the first class incident so I hope it goes some way to show my mentality on the day in question. I know it is not a defence to anything and everything I have done it completely my own fault. I have received two other penalty fares over the past 5 or years for forgetting my travel card. I successfully appealed one but it took about 5 letters and much more than £20 pounds worth of time and effort. So I chose not to try and appeal either of the others even though each time I had a travel card for the dates in question. Having read pretty much all the other posts on the issue I now know to wait to hear from the company and write a reply stating how incredibly sorry I am and offer to pay compensation and all admin costs and hope they settle out of court. What I was wondering was with these set of circumstances, no first class ticket, initially refusing to pay the penalty fare, lying and the previous penalty fare notices against me does anyone think I have a hope in hell of not ending up with a criminal conviction? I have had a valid travel card for all zones travelled (admittedly not always on me) for five years. Will that help? I have not yet heard from the company, would anyone recommend pre-emptive letter? On the offering to pay a settlement front, would a very large amount (££££) be more likely to be accepted or would be construed as been arrogant and trying to buy your way out of trouble? In my response letter should I try and mitigate the previous penalty fares notices at this stage as I can’t claim this is my first offence? Or not talk about them? I obviously want to keep it factual, short, apologetic and not rambling. Does anyone know if I get convicted on the most serious charge (dishonesty, fraud) will that stop me travelling to the states? I am so worried I can’t sleep or concentrate at work and am going crazy thinking about losing my job. I am usually such a happy go lucky kind of fella and would describe myself as of good character and have never got in any trouble like this before. Any other advise? Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to read this and I'm sorry it's so long and rambling.

Dear All, PLEASE HELP! SHOULD I HAVE RECEIVED A COPY OF THE WITNESS STATEMENT THAT I WAS ASKED TO SIGN? I was recently caught using my husband's season ticket on a train into London. I was cautioned and signed a Witness Statement. The inspector said that I would hear from the prosecution department in the post. I then received a 'Notice of Intention to Prosecute' letter from First Capital Connect asking for information from my point of view. I explained that I was extremely sorry, detailed the reasons why I had done it and pleaded that they didn't take this to court. I then received a letter from FCC saying that my comments have been taken into consideration but they will be progressign with my case. My husband wrote a subsequent letter begging them not to take the matter to court but they have ignored this and I have now received a letter with a court date. With this court date letter I also received a copy of the Statement of Facts that will be read in court. These include a quote from the "Passenger Comments" section of the Witness Statement that I had left blank (purposefully not wanting to incriminate myself further). This is obviously the first time I've seen it and I have not had a chance to dispute what has been written. This section has had something written in it in the first person that I never said, and would certainly never have signed. Obviously my signature is at the bottom but I know that the comments have been added after my signature. I realise that it's my word against theirs and with my signature on the document I imagine that I don't have a leg to stand on. However, I am wondering if the Inspector has followed the correct procedures and if not could I get the case thrown out of court? I am intending to plead guilty as I did travel without a valid ticket and realise the seriousness of my actions. However, I really don't want to go to court and certainly don't want a criminal record. At 37 years of age I have never been in any trouble whatsover I am absolutely gutted. Please can you let me know if I should have been given a copy of the Witness Statement at the time of signing, or indeed with the original letter when I was asked to write my version of the events. And does anyone have any additional advice to avoid a criminal record? I am willing to pay any penalty fare and fine they feel appropriate and said this in my original letter to them which they have decided to ignore. Thank you all in advance