Underground prosecution Threat

[alikhalid155]

I have been caught using my causin's disabled freedom pass on tube, i told the checker all details correctly even that the pass belongs to my causin, she told me that i will receive a letter and will get prosecuted, its been 8 hours to that incident and i am so much depressed since then, i am an mba student and doing my last semester and in october i am supposed to apply for my psw( post study work) visa i am afraid that any criminal record will effect my application for that visa, could somebody help me sorting this out plz i have never been to such situation and don't have any criminal record before.

[dx100uk]

hey ho

 

no big deal

 

just send the grovelling letter when they send you one

 

have a read of a few threads here

 

i hope there is not a series of you using this card else it could get sticky

 

dx

[alikhalid155]

will they check only today's journeys or they will check the past records as well?

[alikhalid155]

could somebody please tell me in case it gets into my criminal record will it effect my upcoming application for work visa?

[Wriggler7]

I hate to disagree with DX. This is a bigger deal than just avoiding a fare. Freedom passes are publicly funded, and Tfl are likely to take a pretty dim view of it. It may well be prosecuted as a criminal offence.

 

DX is right to say 'send a grovelling letter', you may be lucky and get an administrative settlement. It is worth trying.

 

As to whether one 'fare bunking conviction' will damage your visa application, hard to say. It doesn't help, but the daily Mail will tell us all about people allowed to stay in Britain with convictions for much more serious offences. I suspect that it would not stop a visa being granted, as long as there are no other issues. I have no expertise with visa and immigration issues.

[Wriggler7]

they will check the Oyster Freedom pass history. If it is clear that you have been using it for some time, it will increase the chances of the case going to Court.

[Old-CodJA]

Yes, this is a fare evasion matter and misuse of publicly funded Freedom Passes is recognised as a very serious abuse of trust by the TfL Prosecutions team.

 

As Wriggler7 advised, wait for the verification letter and write a grovelling apology, offering to pay all the administration costs and fares involved.

 

There's no guarantee it will avoid a Court hearing, but it might.

.

[dx100uk]

(sch i was trying to calm the patient down) ...three in one night is rare on the ticket/jail dream on the night shift...dx

[alikhalid155]

this matter happened yesterday when will i receive the letter?

[alikhalid155]

is there any other way to get out of this other then suicide?

[honeybee13]

is there any other way to get out of this other then suicide?

 

Yes, let's not get too melodramatic. You could start by telling the guys the details that have been mentioned, like whether you've done this before [and it can be checked] and if you've had other problems with the train company/ies.

 

I don't mean to be harsh, but you're obviously an intelligent person if you're doing an MBA. Have you read the terms on the back of said pass? I imagine it says something like 'not transferable'.

 

As an aside, I haven't quite grasped why we see people here nearly every week who desperately want to stay in the UK, but don't feel that following our rules is important until they get into trouble. If I wanted a visa to stay somewhere, I'd be staying squeaky-clean. Maybe I'm missing something.

 

Going back to your question, if you tell the guys everything, they'll try to help you. But no-one incuding you can speed up the arrival of the letter and you may have to be patient. Sorry.

 

My best, HB

[Wriggler7]

How long is a piece of string? The famous 'letter' will arrive when it does. If you think it through, the Inspector has a few enquiries to make, check the Oyster history, and then write his report. He may not have done that yet, but he will in a couple of days or so.

 

He then will give it to some sort of 'boss' to read. If everything is 'ok', that boss will send it by internal post to their prosecution team, who undoubtedly have some sort of backlog, they are all busy people.

 

Of course, it could be that the report was written before close of play yesterday, it may be that the 'boss' was at his desk and said 'can I see that', and then was going to the prosecution office, and chose to take it with him.

 

I suggest that you will be written to 'within 6 weeks'.

[Wriggler7]

And suicide is not a good option!

 

The prosecutor I chat with most often would serve a summons in hell itself if he thought the case was solid!

 

You do need to keep a sense of perspective. Avoiding rail fares, even if it involves a wrongful use of a discretionery pass, is not the most serious matter to trouble a Magistrates Court.

 

A few weeks ago, I was in Barking Magistrates listening to the sad tale of a woman from Cote d'Ivoire who, despite being unable to understand English (she had a French Interpreter present) had allegedly worked out methods of cheating housing benefits. (Incidentally, the intrpreter spoke lovely, Parisian, French. I could understand her, the defendant was struggling a bit)

 

Not sure how the case will pan out, it is not over yet, but no one is suggesting sending her 'home'.