Inspector took details, month later and no letter

[adl1234]

At the begging of March I was traveling Stoke to Manchester without a ticket. In a moment of absolute stupidity and immaturity me and my friend decided to say we'd travelled from a shorter stop. The inspector figured we weren't telling the truth and took our details. My friend received the appeal letter, replied and received the next letter. In which it mentions about a fine and potentially a court summons. He responded today hoping for just a fine and to pay the fare.
I still have not received a letter from the train company or contact in any capacity.

What is the best course of action, do I call and state I've not received a letter or should I still wait? Is there a certain time frame for the train company to issue a letter.

What is likely to happen to my friend/myself in these circumstances.

Thanking you in advance.

 

[najaB]

They have up to six months to bring charges, so just wait and see what happens. Use this time to save some money, you may need it.

 

[Elecman]

They have up to six months to bring charges, so just wait and see what happens. Use this time to save some money, you may need it.

May need it, almost certainly will need it ( at least £80)

 

[adl1234]

Thanks for your replies.

My concern is that i've not received the first and second letter like my friend has.
This was an appeal letter to which they required a response within 21 days, he did, they then came back stating that we tried to achieve a cheaper fare dishonestly (or words to that effect) a fine will be issued and there may be a court summons, he's now replied essentially asking for a fine/admin fee and for it not to be settled in court.

So you're saying I could expect that first letter anytime in the next 5 months(seen as a month has elapsed)? Or could it go straight to a charge?

I find it odd that i've not had anything through the post, we live fairly close to each other. Im worried that it may be lost in the post and I'm going to have the second letter issuing a court summons for a failure to respond or something equivalent. Is that usual for Virgin Trains/transport investigations ltd in these circumstances?

Part of me says call them and find out whether a letter has been sent so I can at least show I'm being honest about it and dealing with it before it potentially gets worse. The other part says that they took all my details from my driving license so they've got enough info to issue a letter/fine.

 

[island]

Only a court can issue a fine. Any payment you may make before court action to settle the matter would be a settlement.

 

[adl1234]

Ok, thanks for your reply.

Im going to call them today and find out if a letter is due to be issued thereby showing some honesty to chase it up.

What typically happens, Is our situation classed as a bylaw offence or do they go to a court summons in these circumstances?

 

[yorkie]

What typically happens, Is our situation classed as a bylaw offence or do they go to a court summons in these circumstances?

I'm guessing you meant "and" rather than "or"?

They could Prosecute under the byelaws but I can't see why they would (other than the fact it's a bit easier for them) as you've admitted an offence under the Regulation of Railways Act. See Railway Specific Legislation

You say, "He responded today hoping for just a fine and to pay the fare", well the court is indeed likely to impose the fine as well as payment of the fare, but in addition there are costs to pay too.

However if both yourselves and Virgin Trains are happy to reach an out of court settlement at terms which are agreeable to both yourself and them, then you can avoid the fine, keep costs down to a minimum, and perhaps most importantly avoid a criminal record.

 

[adl1234]

So I contacted the TIL and informed them I hadn't received a letter. They said they had no record of me on file and they'd chase Virgin for the report.
Sure enough 3 weeks later I receive the first one.
I did some research in threads on this forum and wrote a letter apologising and asked for an out of court settlement. I received a very prompt response stating I had 14 days to add further comments before an application for summons will be made.
I replied again, apologising, admitting I made a mistake and asked again if it could be settled out of court.
This week I received another letter stating an intention to court will follow and they be in touch when a date is confirmed.

As I understand from threads Virgin Trains aren't as lenient as other companies. Im not a dishonest person and know I made a really really stupid mistake, this is my first offence and it's going to cost me job and I've caused myself no end of stress.
Is there anything I can do at this point?
Do I have anything going for me for showing I was honest and contacting them? I mentioned this in my first letter.

I've looked through the threads but can't find much for Virgin Trains related scenarios.

Thanks again in advance for your help.

 

[mikeg]

People have settled with virin before, see this thread.

It will not necessarily cost you your job. Whilst I agree that a regulation of railways act prosecution is likely, do not rule out them pursuing a byelaw prosecution. Even if you do get a record, not all employers will be bothered. It depends on what work you do.

Have you been contacted yet?

Unfortunately although you claim not to be dishonest there is the fact that your actions on that day were no mistake and were a crime of dishonesty. The magistrates will be concerned most of all by these actions, not your more general claims to be honest.

 

[ainsworth74]

I have deleted a number of off-topic posts.

In this section you should only post if you're endeavouring to assist the OP. Posts which solely tell the OP they're guilty, which deleve into an arcane discussion about the definition of a single word and similar will be deleted.

If people cannot stick to providing advice to the OP then we ask that they do not post in this section. If you wish to discuss an issue related to a thread in this section but that is not directly relevant to the OP feel free to start a new thread in an appropriate sub-forum with a link back for context.

If anyone feels that they will not be able to comply with the above feel free to contact us and we can arrange to hide this section from their account.

 

[323235]

So I contacted the TIL and informed them I hadn't received a letter. They said they had no record of me on file and they'd chase Virgin for the report.
Sure enough 3 weeks later I receive the first one.
I did some research in threads on this forum and wrote a letter apologising and asked for an out of court settlement. I received a very prompt response stating I had 14 days to add further comments before an application for summons will be made.
I replied again, apologising, admitting I made a mistake and asked again if it could be settled out of court.
This week I received another letter stating an intention to court will follow and they be in touch when a date is confirmed.

As I understand from threads Virgin Trains aren't as lenient as other companies. Im not a dishonest person and know I made a really really stupid mistake, this is my first offence and it's going to cost me job and I've caused myself no end of stress.
Is there anything I can do at this point?
Do I have anything going for me for showing I was honest and contacting them? I mentioned this in my first letter.

I've looked through the threads but can't find much for Virgin Trains related scenarios.

Thanks again in advance for your help.

TfL have nothing to do with Manchester Piccadilly, it would have either been CrossCountry (brown jackets) , Northern (blue) or Virgin (red jackets) who took your details. As you have now said the company in question has sent you a letter.

 

[Jonfun]

TfL have nothing to do with Manchester Piccadilly, it would have either been CrossCountry (brown jackets) , Northern (blue) or Virgin (red jackets) who took your details. As you have now said the company in question has sent you a letter.

He said TIL.

 

[34D]

TfL have nothing to do with Manchester Piccadilly, it would have either been CrossCountry (brown jackets) , Northern (blue) or Virgin (red jackets) who took your details. As you have now said the company in question has sent you a letter.

Transport Investigations Ltd