Fare Evasion - please help!

[JasonCa]

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Edited September 24, 2009 by JasonCa

[imucky]

Hi

was you cautioned?

was you re-cautioned and questioned about past journeys?

[JasonCa]

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Edited September 24, 2009 by JasonCa

[RPI]

No, I've not been cautioned before.

Hi, not confusing a police caution to being cautioned, did the inspector read you a caution i.e. "you do not have to say anything, but...... blah blah"?

If so then the TOC will probably deal with it with their in house prosecutuions unit, unfortunately, due to the seriousness of what you were caught for they probably will proceed with prosecution.

 

I'm sure some of the more seasoned posters on here will agree that when the TOC write to you then don't let it lie and get in contact with them.

 

This sort of fare evasion is in-part responsible for fare increases all the time!

[JasonCa]

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Edited September 24, 2009 by JasonCa

[RPI]

At the end of the day you realise what you've done is wrong and you regret it, when they write to you ring them up and tell them that you know you've been stupid, and that you are prepared to pay the fare and any cost's that the TOC has incurred so fare and then hope for the best!

 

Which TOC operates the station?

 

Good luck!

[SRPO]

Deleted.

Edited September 23, 2009 by SRPO

[JasonCa]

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Edited September 24, 2009 by JasonCa

[imucky]

Toc is FCC.

You say that you have not travel yet, did you insert the ticket into the barriers & proceed to travel on a train then get stopped by the inspector?

More likely the barriers were program to monitor such type of ticket and that's why you were stopped.

FCC will likely push for prosecution because of the intent and the withdraw of tickets etc.

You would be very lucky if the inspector made a mistake, FCC inspectors mainly use a pro-forma pad for reporting fare evasion.

If the job was done in the notebook they may be mistakes but this is very unlucky as most of the questions would be from the pro-forma with the odd extra questions.

[JasonCa]

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Edited September 24, 2009 by JasonCa

[andydd]

This sort of fare evasion is in-part responsible for fare increases all the time!

 

Although, privatisation, TOC greediness, Union Power is a lot more responsible, although avoiding train fares is wrong, it is very widespread, people feel ripped off by the extortianate prices charges and sometimes avoid them, i was recently suprised when this topic came up amongst a group of friends and nearly everyone had/still does avoid fares at some time or another.

 

Don't worry..Jail won't be an option !..Just a lil fine.

 

Andy

[JasonCa]

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Edited September 24, 2009 by JasonCa

[andydd]

Andy, how do you know?

 

I'm worried that it might be seen as persistent because I've been doing it for a period of time.

 

Im pretty certain that no-one ever has been sent to jail for fare evasion, it just doesnt happen. You are hardly a menace to society, judges realise this !. Put that thought out of your mind, as suggested, just write a grovelling letter, I was in same situation, I got a fine of about £150.

 

Andy

[JasonCa]

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Edited September 24, 2009 by JasonCa

[andydd]

Andy, it's comforting to know, but I can't put that thought out of my mind. Could you give brief details of what you did (how long, how often) so I may compare it to my own situation?

 

Hhmm.,.I had a ticket that wasn't valid for the full journey, an inspector asked to see it and on seeing it wasnt valid asked me some questions which I refused to answer except my name and address. He asked if i had an Oyster card, i said yes and he took this (if ever I was in the same situation again i'd deff say no as it was right hassle to get it back and it was loaded with quite a bit of money).

 

I then got a letter saying i was going to be prosecuted and asking for any mitigating circumstances, I pointed out I had spent about 8 grand on the 3 previous years buying annual season tickets (they could check this) and I recieved a fine of 115 I think and costs of 40.

 

To be honest its no big deal, the worrying aspect is that it may involve some sort of criminal record, there have been other threads on here about this aspect but its unclear wether its a full criminal record, does it show up on CRB/Visa checks, does it expire, etc.

 

Unless there are valid legal reasons to get out of it, id just grovel, point out other circumstances where you bought a season ticket, etc. id be tempted to point out its hardly crime of the century but i guess you shouldnt !

 

There are some peeps on here who are involved in fare evasion/collection and hopefully they will pop in and inform you more and what to expect.

 

Andy

[JasonCa]

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Edited September 24, 2009 by JasonCa

[andydd]

Thanks Andy. But you see the difference is that you were caught for the one trip. I was avoiding paying the season ticket and I think they can check it was something I had been regularly doing. One of the inspectors mentioned it could be fraud because it happened over a period. I'm worried that the matter may be turned over to BTP, but I suppose until I get a letter from them I won't know... I travel between other stations as well and have always bought correct tickets - it's just on that journey where the travel cost eats so much into my take-home pay that I stupidly resorted to what I did. Shouldn't have, never will, really worried! Any advice would be appreciated.

 

I see what you are saying, the ticket in your possession was a year old ?. Therefore it implies that you've been using it for a year, although there may be no actual proof of this.

 

I don't think BTP are likely to be involved in the prosecution, TOC's have enough legal clout to take you to court by themselves.

 

You may need help to ensure that this is dealt with as a one off incident instead of something that has been going on for a while, lets hope someone more knowledgeable pops in.

[SRPO]

Deleted.

Edited September 23, 2009 by SRPO

[Stigy]

I see what you are saying, the ticket in your possession was a year old ?. Therefore it implies that you've been using it for a year, although there may be no actual proof of this.

 

I don't think BTP are likely to be involved in the prosecution, TOC's have enough legal clout to take you to court by themselves.

 

You may need help to ensure that this is dealt with as a one off incident instead of something that has been going on for a while, lets hope someone more knowledgeable pops in.

If the correct questions were asked by the inspector, and Jason replied to these in the way the Inspector wanted, the only actual proof that would be needed where available would be any tickets that have been seiized as evidence.

 

Regarding Prison, Jason, I very much doubt you'll be going there if you're generally of good character and haven't been a pain to Magistrates in the past! It is however quite possible for sentences to involve prison if the Magistarte deems it appropriate, and I'm sure it's been done before, too!

[JasonCa]

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Edited September 24, 2009 by JasonCa

[JasonCa]

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Edited September 24, 2009 by JasonCa

[andydd]

Oh God I am so sick with worry I can't stop pressing F5 every few seconds...

 

Dont worry, it will be quite a while till anything happens, how much do you think you've actually 'saved' by not buying a ticket ?. Prob best not to answer this if you think you can be identified by your posts.

[JasonCa]

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Edited September 24, 2009 by JasonCa

[SRPO]

Deleted.

Edited September 23, 2009 by SRPO

[JasonCa]

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Edited September 24, 2009 by JasonCa