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.

Hi Guys, It's nice to meet you all. I have been a lurker looking around for months now so have become accustomed to a lot of the regulars on this forum and just want to say thank you before I even start to members such as OC, Underground and others who take time out to give advice and help others. Now for the point at hand, I was stopped at a central london station this year and a family members freedom pass was in my possession, long story short, I was questioned by a TFL member, I had not realised I had used the pass as I also had my Oyster with enough credit to travel however as I have read this does not matter since it is my responsibility to know which card I was using. I got the letter from TFL asking for my side of events, I let them know about the Oyster and the fact it had been topped up that morning, they took this into account with evidence I provided however last week I was sent a court summons for the following: You are hear-by summoned to appear at Magistrates court.... That on (said date) you did entered a compulsory ticket area without having with you a valid ticket.. Contrary to Bye-law 17 (1) of the TFL railway byelaws made under paragraph 26 of schedule 11 to the greater London Authority act 1999, and confirmed under section... of the Transport Act 1962. London Underground will be applying for the sum of ...... and the price for a single ticket. Above I have tried to provide as much information as possible, now having read through the statements etc and this forum I understand the the charge is not for the The Regulation of Railways Act 1889 which I understand is worse and relates specifically to fare evasion, it is in-fact for Bye-law 17 (1). I am guessing that due to the evidence I provided they decided not to go with proving intent etc and the RORA but chose a charge I cannot dispute - strict liability as I have read in other threads. My questions are as follows: I have read countless examples on here and other websites about Bye-law 18 etc but not very much on 17 hence am wondering what exactly is 17 (1) all about? and why does it state that it is exempt: "Any person who breaches any of these Byelaws commits an offence and, with the exception of Byelaw 17, may be liable for each such offence to a penalty not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale". ? Next I have read countless debates on whether a bye-law and in my case specifically 17(1) relates to a Criminal Record and conviction, I am genuinely confused about this, is it in fact recorded? Is it a criminal record? Finally I am attending court soon and will update everyone as to how it proceeds to help others. I have decided to plead guilty based on what I have read in the summons and go in person. I have spoken to a family friend (solicitor) who is looking into the summons and whether to pursue or even attempt and out of court settlement with the TFL prosecution office. Is this worth following up? Thanks for taking the time to read this.

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

Hi everyone, I am a big fan of this website as it helped me to avoid a lot of trouble. I was caught using a friends freedom pass and summon to court, after reading countless posts I decided to plead not guilty. After months of battling. TFL then sent me a letter saying they dropped the prosecution. Now with all the information and help I gathered, I would like to offer my help in defeating TFL. Thanks again for the posts you guys provided, without them I would have been in trouble.

I would normally use the card twice a day, 3 times a week for every week that I have college on the National Rail. I've been using the card since before November I believe, although I'm not entirely sure. I've also used it on some occasions that are not related to traveling to colleges including running an errand for my family etc. My grandma has also left the country before I started using the Freedom Pass. A couple of weeks ago I was approached by a plain clothes inspector after touching in the barricade with my Gran's Freedom Pass at London Underground station. He asked to see my pass, and since I was pretty much nervous I showed him my 16+ photocard, he checked it and asked to see my other pass so I had no choice, but to show him the pass I was using. After that he asked how old I was, I wasn't sure what to do and I was seriously "NERVOUS & SCARED!"! So I said to him that I was 17 when in fact I turned 18 2 months ago. He then took both the passes and ask his colleague to check the cards, in the mean time he asked me a bunch of questions e.g. my address, name and the same question which he had already asked me "how old are you?" and since he already asked me that same question already I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to tell him the truth which would be a different answer so I said that I'm 17...again. After his colleague returned with the passes, the ticket inspector asked me mow many times I've used the card, as i mention before I was really nervous and scared so I said twice in which he asked me for the exact date. After jotting down a long note into his notebook, he began asking be questions again: "Who's card is this?", " Where are you intending to travel to?", " Are you traveling with the intention of avoiding the travel fares?", "Do you have money to pay for the fare?" and " Is the card rightfully yours?", . So I told him that it was my grandma's, Piccadilly Circus, yes, yes (although the money I have at that time was the part money I was supposed to pay back to my friend of £120)and replied to his answer with a question "What do you mean by if it's rightfully mine?", which he replied so I said that my grandma let me use it. He then asked the same question and explain it again so I said no which I don't understand the reason that he has to ask me the question seeing as it's pretty obvious it's not "mine". After writing down a long note into his notebook again, he asked if I wants him to read what he wrote down, I said yes and at the end he asked me if I understand and agree that everything he wrote down is true, I replied again with a yes. He gave my back my photocard, but kept the freedom pass. He let me out and tell me to buy a valid ticket. Now I know it was my fault that I used the Freedom Pass in the first place and I should never have done it at all, but at the moment I'm facing financial problems which includes owing my friends money over £300. I have applied to a part time/weekend job so that it won't affect my studies since they are pretty bad and I have huge amount of coursework to do at the moment, but I had to luck of getting ones. I've a read few posts related to getting caught with freedom pass on CAG and I understand that I will be prosecuted, but I still have a bunch of questions to ask: - Will I go to jail? - Is it possible to ask for a community service instead as I have absolutely no money at the moment in which I could afford to pay for the fines? - Will I get a criminal record? - Should I write an apologetic letter to them? - Does getting summon to court and dealing with the situation out of court make any difference? It'd be great if I could get an answer to my problems... Thank Thanks.

Hi all, This morning i left home after picking up what i thought was my spare Oyster pouch with my Oyster from the doorside table after losing my everyday Oyster a few days ago. When i arrived at the station the guard had a look at my oyster and low and behold it was my dads. Now i know i should have checked but i thought i picked up my spare and being in a hurry i didnt check, I have educated myself as to happens in these instances and it looks like its fare evasion and even more serious that it was a freedom pass. The chap asked my how i got it and i said i took it without asking because i didn't. I tried calling TFL and obviously its too soon as they dont have a report as yet. What can i expect? Regards Gerry