Got caught with fake ticket :( pls advise

[bucki]

I KNOW I AM IDIOT PLS FORGIVE ME!!

I been caught with a fake MasterTravel ticket a month a go and received a letter stating to reply back explaining the reasoning.

In addition it says, i will be recorded as "criminal record"
This is the worst that can happen to me that would be the end of my life, they might just better of killing me instead!

Having criminal record means, no jobs for me anymore and i wot be able to bring my future wife to UK at all! Plsssss advice! Anyone gone through this ...???

I dnt know what to do!?
I been not myself since then, i am getting paranoid ...

I wish i could turn back time

:*(


Ps: Northern rail

 

[Emyr]

Having criminal record means, no jobs for me anymore

Not necessarily.

If people with criminal records were unemployable, the re-offending rates for ex-prisoners would be even higher. For a non-custodial (fine, community service, whatever) sentence, the impact of it once complete depends on the type of jobs you're seeking.

 

[gordonthemoron]

you could ofcourse leave the country, I doubt they'd check the UK's police database

 

[Greenback]

What is a MasterTravel ticket?

 

[thegrimeater]

What is a MasterTravel ticket?

South yorkshire travelmaster ticket?

 

[Greenback]

Yes, could be. Thanks!

 

[47421]

As others say, some ticket offences are not very serious, and for first time offenders, where there are no aggravating factors (such as being abusive to staff), the outcome may be only a conviction for a minor offence which does not show up on CRB check, with punishment being a small fine. Also it may be possible to settle out of court for a relatively small amount.

It sounds as if your English is not that good. We can try to help on here if you can provide full info on what happened, where you were stopped, what the problem was with your ticket, what journey you were making, what the inspector said to you at the time etc.

However you may find it easier to deal with someone in person about this. The Citizens Advice Bureau is a good place to start, some of their advisers are very good. If you ask the CAB, you could come back here to get a second opinion on their suggestions.

 

[185]

From my experience, offenders for this receive about £400 plus costs, often plus the cost of the fare avoided, a day at magistrates court, criminal record.

You could write to the company if there are any very, very, unusual circumstances why you had to commit the offence, otherwise you have shown clear intent to commit fraud by creating a 'false implement', and you should accept the judgement of the court. You wouldn't walk out of Tesco with £3000 worth of shopping unpaid for, and this is pretty much the same.

Simple answer, better to have no ticket than try create a fake one - a fake ticket clearly displays 'intent' to avoid payment.

 

[Hadders]

Perhaps a hedge fund manager in the south east could advise on the best way of keeping this out of court

 

[redbutton]

bucki, If indeed you were caught with a counterfeit (fake) rail ticket rather than a genuine one that was merely invalid in some way, you should get independent legal advice, as it could be classed as fraud, which is more serious than the "usual" byelaw offence.

Get legal advice before you write any correspondence back to the TOC, because incriminating yourself any further could have repercussions on your immigration status, among other things. For example, depending on your status in the UK, a criminal record might make you eligible for deportation.

Speak with a lawyer.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Deliberately using a fake ticket (e.g. photocopied, forged) could be construed as an offence under the Fraud Act. Dishonesty offences of that nature can have a massive impact on your ability to find employment, or to sponsor spousal visas, and such like.

If you had no ticket at all, that would have (usually) been a Byelaws offence or a Regulation of Railways Act offence. The former doesn't leave a criminal record and, whilst the latter does, it is not usually considered a dishonesty offence.

I would strongly suggest you seek legal advice before responding to Northern Rail. Whilst you cannot lie in your response, you do not have to incriminate yourself further.

Perhaps you should have thought about all this before you chose to deliberately use a ticket that you knew to be fake. Doing this is no different to forging £20 notes, and you wouldn't expect to get away with that with a slap on the wrist.

 

[island]

As we've seen recently, train companies are usually willing to settle even the most serious cases with a financial payment. If you write back to Northern Rail expressing your apologies and offering to settle the matter out of court, there is every likelihood they will present you with an amount to pay to bring the matter to an end. Northern traditionally charges £80 plus the fare avoided, although it may be more in this instance due to the use of a counterfeit ticket.

If you do get a criminal record bear in mind that it becomes spent after at most five years unless you get jail time.

The above is not a substitute for legal advice.

 

[bucki]

I will kill myself
I tried to save money and hlp my family back home and hereby iI ruined my life.

Life aint worth anymore, since i wont be able to apply for viza with a cruminal record ... Best choice is to commit suicide and kill myself!


Sorry guys god forgive me

 

[bb21]

I don't think killing yourself will help anyone. What about your family who still depend on you? What will they do and how will they feel if you are dead?

I would echo the advice of seeking professional legal advice as fraud would be a very serious charge. I am not saying that is what they will charge you under but you need to tread very carefully.

 

[cf111]

I will kill myself
I tried to save money and hlp my family back home and hereby iI ruined my life.

Life aint worth anymore, since i wont be able to apply for viza with a cruminal record ... Best choice is to commit suicide and kill myself!


Sorry guys god forgive me

Killing yourself will not help anyone.

I can only echo the advice provided to contact the Citizen's Advice Bureau and to seek local legal advice.

If you feeling suicidal, please consider contacting The Samaritans and booking an appointment with your GP as soon as possible.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

If you feeling suicidal, please consider contacting The Samaritans and booking an appointment with your GP as soon as possible.

Thank you for making this posting. The Samaritans are indeed an organisation to which many have turned in the past, having been told of this by family members who were part of their team.

 

[34D]

No problem is ever bad enough for that to be a solution.

We will help you work a way out of this. Note that WE NEED TO KNOW SPECIFICS and that you may need to be prepared to apologise for your wrong.

We are all here to help

 

[tony6499]

No problem is ever bad enough for that to be a solution.

We will help you work a way out of this. Note that WE NEED TO KNOW SPECIFICS and that you may need to be prepared to apologise for your wrong.

We are all here to help

The OP has willingly admitted breaking the law so has to face the consequences.

Not sure anyone should help work a way out of it except get him a solicitor and legal help.

 

[34D]

The OP has willingly admitted breaking the law so has to face the consequences.

Not sure anyone should help work a way out of it except get him a solicitor and legal help.

Tony, we simply do not know at present. It may be that 'fake' is poor english for 'invalid'.

 

[fowler9]

I will kill myself
I tried to save money and hlp my family back home and hereby iI ruined my life.

Life aint worth anymore, since i wont be able to apply for viza with a cruminal record ... Best choice is to commit suicide and kill myself!


Sorry guys god forgive me

Suicide is never the answer. It will just take away any other options you have at improving things and will cause untold damage to those you love and those who love you. As others have already said, contact the CAB, they can help you get some proper legal advice. What you did was a mistake, we all make mistakes. It doesn't mean you will never work again or that your life is ruined.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

I support the view that you should take professional advice, this will be considered as a Fraud (rather than a matter of fare evasion).

I can't agree with this analysis at all:

As we've seen recently, train companies are usually willing to settle even the most serious cases with a financial payment. If you write back to Northern Rail expressing your apologies and offering to settle the matter out of court, there is every likelihood they will present you with an amount to pay to bring the matter to an end. Northern traditionally charges £80 plus the fare avoided, although it may be more in this instance due to the use of a counterfeit ticket.

Northern Rail offer an £80 administrative fee for travellers without a valid ticket. I can see no prospect of that offer being given to a person knowingly presenting a forged ticket on repeated occasions - i.e. a Fraud.

 

[fowler9]

I support the view that you should take professional advice, this will be considered as a Fraud (rather than a matter of fare evasion).

I can't agree with this analysis at all:Northern Rail offer an £80 administrative fee for travellers without a valid ticket. I can see no prospect of that offer being given to a person knowingly presenting a forged ticket on repeated occasions - i.e. a Fraud.

To be fair to the OP I don't think any of us can be sure it was a fake ticket or a fraud. Just that it wasn't valid. Depending on what language you speak as your first language a direct translation can have a massive change of meaning. For example, you bump in to someone in England, you say sorry, If you use the word for sorry in Spain or South America they may wonder what you are sorry about or why you used such a strong word.

For example, if you say I'm sorry or sorry in Spanish, lo siento, it would mean something more akin to feeling regret for someone loosing a loved one. Perdoneme would be more appropriate.

 

[Fare-Cop]

Perhaps the simplest thing to do is to ask the question

bucki, did you make or use a ticket that you knew was not a real ticket?

 

[island]

I support the view that you should take professional advice, this will be considered as a Fraud (rather than a matter of fare evasion).

I can't agree with this analysis at all:Northern Rail offer an £80 administrative fee for travellers without a valid ticket. I can see no prospect of that offer being given to a person knowingly presenting a forged ticket on repeated occasions - i.e. a Fraud.

As we have seen from Southeastern, train operating companies have been seen to be willing to settle even the most egregious matters with a suitable payment. As I pointed out, it is liable to be higher than £80 on this occasion. But I absolutely can see a prospect of that offer being given to the OP.

And the question of whether the ticket was counterfeit or was genuine but not valid for the journey the OP wished to make remains open.

 

[Merseysider]

In the event that you did receive a criminal record, yes, your employability would drop. However, several employers (depending on the nature of the offence) will give you a chance, so don't be too despondent about it.

Furthermore, there are many steps inbetween now and court and as several forum members have stated, the TOC concerned may be willing to settle out of court (which means your record stays clean) if an appropriate amount is agreed on. But we need to know more if we are able to give our best advice.

Needless to say, any punishment you receive will be tougher the second time round so avoid getting into any more trouble.

 

[fowler9]

Not several employers, many. If you are honest up front before they do their checks you will be surprised. They will probably fine if you are honest about what you did. For better or for worse I work in a strict security environment with people who committed fraud in the past.

 

[bucki]

Hello

English is not my first language!!

I didnt now it was fake ticket until the conductor took it away.
I always bought travel ticket but a month ago, one of the mates of my friend at uni, who also had same card as me, went to buy one for himself and i need one too but was short in time. Instead, i gave him the money (cash) to buy one for me too... So he did and I used it coupe of days and then got stopped and took it away. Then of course i realised there is something wrong!! Then I had no other option but to buy a new one ...

Howeva, He took my id card, the travel card and asked me to write down my details.
Now, the letter is asking me to write back before the company proceeds with further investigation.

I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!!!!
I am feeling **** and been feeling low past few days ...

Sometimes, I am thinking to ignore the letter and just go and live under a bridge or something or god knows ... not sure what to think anyway on other hand, I wrote down a plea letter stating that I thought it was valid and feeling sorry and that I never ever done anything wrong in this country and hoping to get a fine without going to court.

I dont know ... i dont know what to do!!!
If I ignore the letter what will happen ????
will police look for me ???



Ps: if i ever see that guy again, i will brake every bone in his body!

 

[bigdelboy]

Hello

English is not my first language!!

I didnt now it was fake ticket until the conductor took it away.
I always bought travel ticket but a month ago, one of the mates of my friend at uni, who also had same card as me, went to buy one for himself and i need one too but was short in time. Instead, i gave him the money (cash) to buy one for me too... So he did and I used it coupe of days and then got stopped and took it away. Then of course i realised there is something wrong!! Then I had no other option but to buy a new one ...

Howeva, He took my id card, the travel card and asked me to write down my details.
Now, the letter is asking me to write back before the company proceeds with further investigation.

I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!!!!
I am feeling **** and been feeling low past few days ...

Sometimes, I am thinking to ignore the letter and just go and live under a bridge or something or god knows ... not sure what to think anyway on other hand, I wrote down a plea letter stating that I thought it was valid and feeling sorry and that I never ever done anything wrong in this country and hoping to get a fine without going to court.

I dont know ... i dont know what to do!!!
If I ignore the letter what will happen ????
will police look for me ???



Ps: if i ever see that guy again, i will brake every bone in his body!

I have been watching this thread. I have some experience with dealing with forged documents and cheats on other forums .....

On that other forum 95% of the time when the word 'friend' is used something dodgy follows. Friend's get people into so much trouble!

If you break the bones in someones body that will be a criminal offence; and I assume your visa will be rescinded.

I am sure that as that is the only forged/fake document you have ever used and that you are complying with your visa you should have little to fear from immigration and police.

As it seems you may be appear to be the victim of a crime by the mate of your friend I would expect would be able to give details so this fake ticket dealer can be identified and investigated.

If your heart is true you should have little to fear from God.

You are responsible for any actions you take or do not take; as I am not authorative in this area and my advice may me inappropriate or deterimental. You are probably best advised to seek a solicitor.

 

[PermitToTravel]

You cannot ignore the letter. If you do, yes, eventually the police will come looking for you.

Please answer the letter entirely truthfully and honestly. That way lies the least trouble. Your letter should also say that you are willing to settle the matter out of court. If you send me a private message with the contents of your letter I will happily check it for you.

Would I be right in guessing that you live in Sheffield, and your first language is Arabic? If so, the Spital Hill Citizens Advice Bureau (http://www.advicesheffield.org.uk/index.php?option=com_directory&Itemid=30&cid=20&task=display) are able to give you advice in your own language. If my guess is completely wrong, then you can find your nearest Citizens Advice Bureau at their website (http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk), or if the website is difficult to use, reply with a location and a language and one of us will reply with an appropriate one.

Please do not kill or hurt yourself, or live under a bridge. It is quite likely that this will only result in you having to pay a settlement. You will have to go to court if you ignore the letter, but you probably won't if you cooperate. I know that right now this feels like the end of the world, but as with everything, it will eventually be over. If you want to talk to someone about your feelings then you can call the Samaritans at any time (http://www.samaritans.org / 08457 909090). They are able to offer some help in other languages but this must be arranged (http://www.samaritans.org/branches/central-london-samaritans/support-non-english-speakers). I don't mind if you want to send me a private message at any time either.

Good luck!

 

[bb21]

I am sure that as that is the only forged/fake document you have ever used and that you are complying with your visa you should have little to fear from immigration and police.

I was under the impression that he would have lots to fear should this result in a recordable conviction due to the new criminality threshold when applying for extension/settlement/naturalisation.