Court summon for fare evasion, please advice.

[newera]

Dear all,

 

Today I received court summon for attempt to travel without paying fare and with intention to avoid payment.

 

Contrary to s.5 (3) (a) of the regulation of railways act 1889 as amended by section 84 (2) of the transport act 1962 and section 18 of the british railways act 1977.

 

In the beginning of April 2016, I was commuting by a train from my university in Brentford to Vauxhall. It was my regular route.

 

Unfortunately, on that day I was in a rush and boarded departing train without touching in my student oyster card.

I should add that Brentford train station doesn't have ticket barriers and i didnt want to miss the train by spending an extra time on touching in my oyster card.

 

My intention was to touch out oyster card in Vauxhall in that case I would have charged the maximum fee, something around £5-6.

I have done this already several times unintentionally when i forgot to touch in oyster cards on stations without ticket barriers.

 

When arrived to Vauxhall my oyster card did not work

I approached ticket inspectors to check the balance and it turned oyster card balance was negative.

I was going to use my contactless debit card instead of oyster card to leave the station

but ticket inspector did not allow me leave the station.

 

He kept my student oyster card and started to intimidate me suggesting that he knows that I came from Southampton.

I panicked and told him that i travelled from the next station up (doesnt big make any difference in terms of fares).

 

After taking all my details train inspector opened barrier and let me leave the station without paying any fee.

 

Afterwards train operation company representatives contacted me several times in order to arrange interview with me,

however I stupidly failed to attend any of them,

I informed the train operation company that I am leaving the UK for entire summer and will be in touch when i come back.

 

Of course, i completely forgot about this incident as I could not have imagined it could lead to criminal conviction.

 

Could you please advice if I stand any chance in court?

Can I negotiate out of court settlement at this stage, or it is too late?

 

Thank you very much for all advices!

Edited November 11, 2016 by newera

[dx100uk]

no its not too late

 

 

simply briefly and with remorse

offer to pay any reasonable admin costs and equivalent fine sums to avoid a criminal record

as this will effect your future and your employment prospects

[newera]

Thank you. I will try to reach the train company asap, is there any good letter template i can use?

[dx100uk]

no theres no templates as each case it different.

 

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?471043-Caught-using-brother-student-oyster-card-SOMEBODY-HELP!(1-Viewing)-nbsp&p=4966641#post4966641

[BazzaS]

It is never too late to ask, but you have stacked the odds against you by declining to attend several arranged interviews : if you haven't engaged with them (repeatedly) why would they feel they need to not proceed to prosecute?

 

They are claiming you travelled without previously paying your fare : difficult to dispute.

They are claiming you did this with intent to avoid your fare.

You deny this.

 

The fact you didn't have enough balance on your Oyster may count against you. The case may well hinge on what you are recorded as saying when you were stopped .....