Appear on CRB or Police record or Caution

[shaka13579]

Hi Everyone,

I received a letter in June from West Great Western. I would like to know that whether the below letter will be appeared in any type of police or criminal record or it is only related to the below office. will it be harm any of my record except to that office. I am applying a government job.

Letter Begins

Subject of the letter : Pre Court Action

It has been reported that one 05/05/2014 you travelled/attempted to travel from
Station A to Station B by train without being in possession of a valid ticket.

As the matter(s) for which youhave been reported may constitiue offence(s) in law, either being in
breach of the regulation of railwys act 1889 and / or Railway Byelaws, consideration is now being
to preparing the case for Court. If convicted of any offence, you could be ordered to pay a fine of
up to £1000.00 and / or be sentenced up to 2 months imprisonment. The Court also has powers
to impose other fincancial penalties on you. Including the company's cost of bringing the
prosecution together with compensation for any outstanding fare.

The situationhas been reviewd. First Great Western is prepared to offer you the opportunity to settle
this matter, upon payment of £85.60 by 15/06/2013. This sum includes the fare outstanding of £5.60
together with a charge towards the costs that have been incurred. This offer is made on a without
prejudice basis, however it is not indefinite and is subject to the strict deadline stated above,
after wich the costs will incraste to £160.00 which will be requested in addition to the oustanding fare.

Payment may be made by debit or credit card by calling 01189579324, or the telephone number
at the top of this letter, alternatively, should you wish to pay by cheque or postal order,
these should be made payable to first great western trains, crossed account payee and sent to the above
address. Please do not send cash

Should you fial to respond to this office, you may be served with a Summons from the company without
further notice, requiring you to attend court, if you do not admit the offence(s).
then you will have the opportunity to plead not guilty,
requesting the Magistrates to try the case


Looking forward to your immediate response.

Please help?

 

[bb21]

That is an out-of-court settlement so it won't appear on a CRB check.

 

[Merseysider]

My advice is simple.

on a without prejudice basis

This means they will close the matter down if you pay the amount asked, and no further action will be taken. It will not lead to court proceedings and will not appear on your record.

Pay the amount requested and the issue will 'go away'. I notice that (assuming they mean 15/06/2015, not 2013) that they have been very generous with the time period to pay this amount. Naturally, avoiding paying the fare again will have far more serious consequences and leave a far greater hole in your pocket.

 

[shaka13579]

Hi bb21,

Many thanks for your kind reply. Kindly can you let me know that I read some other posts in the same forum that it is considered as fixed penalty notices and as I know FPN comes on police record like speeding offence.

Thanks

 

[Via Bank]

Provided you paid this out-of-court settlement (and paid it on time) it will not show up on any CRB check (these are now called DBS, Disclosure and Barring Service checks.) You will not have been convicted of any crime because you settled the matter out of court and it was solely between you and FGW.

If you ignored it, or refused to pay, and were then summonsed and convicted in absentia the situation would be muddier.

 

[shaka13579]

Hi JakeF,

Thanks for your reply, I paid on the letter received day by card payment.

 

[bb21]

Hi bb21,

Many thanks for your kind reply. Kindly can you let me know that I read some other posts in the same forum that it is considered as fixed penalty notices and as I know FPN comes on police record like speeding offence.

Thanks

These are not FPNs in the strict legal sense (so nothing like the ones you get for speeding or jumping a red light).

(It is just an arbitrary name given by Northern who operate the scheme.)

They are in fact out-of-court settlements.

 

[shaka13579]

Thanks for all your replies.

One more thing why the inspector was taking my statements as a caution. Is this a real caution. Bit worried.

 

[bb21]

You mean he took your statement under caution, as in he said to you "You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. ..."?

That's just a mechanism for gathering court admissible evidence.

Since this never went to court (assuming that you paid the amount required promptly), you have nothing to worry.

They also keep it on record which will be flagged up if you end up in trouble again, in which case you may not be dealt with so leniently.

 

[shaka13579]

He was saying 'I am giving you a caution'. Do you know what is caution. I said yes even I did not know about that because he was saying i need to finish with you as soon as possible.

 

[bb21]

As long as he is not a policeman, there is no risk of such "caution" going onto your police database record. He is not a policeman as far as I can see from what you have described, as it is not BTP who took up your case.

 

[shaka13579]

Yes, He is not a police man, He was an inspector from FGW

 

[Merseysider]

Quick question, did you receive anything back from FGW in the way of confirmation the case was closed?

 

[shaka13579]

Yes, I did received a letter from FGW, with the following wordings

Dear Mr. _________

I enclose the receipt attached in respect of your credit/debit card payment in the sum of _____
This matter is now considered to be settled in full, however should you be reported to thisoffice
in the future, the Company may not offer the same opportunity to settle, opting to take legal action instead.

In view of the above, when travelling by train, please ensure that you are aware of the terms and conditions
applicable, details of which may be obtained from www.nationalrail.co.uk

Thank you for your coperation.

 

[Merseysider]

Yes, I did received a letter from FGW, with the following wordings

Dear Mr. _________

I enclose the receipt attached in respect of your credit/debit card payment in the sum of _____
This matter is now considered to be settled in full, however should you be reported to thisoffice
in the future, the Company may not offer the same opportunity to settle, opting to take legal action instead.

In view of the above, when travelling by train, please ensure that you are aware of the terms and conditions
applicable, details of which may be obtained from www.nationalrail.co.uk

Thank you for your coperation.

The matter is completely dealt with; thus you can consider the episode an expensive lesson and hopefully put your mind at rest. It won't affect your job prospects (unless you ever apply for work with FGW )

 

[shaka13579]

Many Thanks for all your (Jake F, BB21, Via Bank) kind replies.
I will try to daily see this forum and from my side if I can help to anyone with this forum. I will do definitely.
Once again I thankful to your all of them

 

[bb21]

You are welcome. I am glad that you have found it useful.

 

[Merseysider]

You may also find our Fares Advice section useful if you frequently travel by train (or even for one-off journeys).

 

[455driver]

Thanks for all your replies.

One more thing why the inspector was taking my statements as a caution. Is this a real caution. Bit worried.

As BB21 has stated, it was taken under caution which means that what you said would be admissible as evidence in Court.

An official Police caution is where you are 'invited' to the Police station and are served with the caution.

In your case it was the first example not the second.
You have paid the amount as an administration fee (for the want of a better phrase) and that is the end of the matter, although your name will now be on the naughty list just in case you come to their attention again, and if you do Court would be highly likely!

 

[shaka13579]

Hi 455driver,

Many thanks for your helpful information and ofcourse this is my first and last mistake, Well i am regular traveller of train

 

[SussexMan]

Hi bb21,

Many thanks for your kind reply. Kindly can you let me know that I read some other posts in the same forum that it is considered as fixed penalty notices and as I know FPN comes on police record like speeding offence.

Thanks

Fixed Penalty Notices do NOT appear on DBS checks as they do not go onto the Police National Computer. You do not have to declare them on job application forms under a question "do you have any criminal convictions" although you do have to if asked specifically about them as your employer might need to know about them in relation to driving etc.

 

[shaka13579]

Guys the question is below:

Have you got any warnings, cautions whether it is spend or unspent?

What I have to answer for the below question?

Yes or No

 

[Greenback]

You have to answer the question honestly, but this particular incident does not fall under either of those categories in my opinion.

 

[shaka13579]

Hi Greenback

That's why I would like to find out.

It means I should say 'No'

Any Expert suggestion for the above question? bit worried.

 

[Merseysider]

The incident with FGW does not count as a [police] warning or a caution or a conviction.

You should answer no to this question unless:

• You have ever been given a police caution (for example for drugs offences, or for driving offences)
• You have been brought to court and been found guilty of any offence (including discharged)
• You are the subject of an ongoing police investigation (in which case it would be wise to declare this)

 

[Greenback]

I think JakeF has quoted some of the guidance from the DBS form itself. I can't add much more to be honest, as no one can tell you what to answer or answer for you. You have to look at the guidance and decide what answer would apply.

 

[455driver]

You should answer no because you havent been given a caution, you merely provided a statement under caution!

 

[Deerfold]

You should answer no because you havent been given a caution, you merely provided a statement under caution!

So long as the OP hasn't received a caution or been found guilty of anything else.

 

[455driver]

So long as the OP hasn't received a caution or been found guilty of anything else.

Good point!

 

[Greenback]

That's what I was getting at when I tried to advise the Op that no one else could answer the question for them!