Fare Evasion

[help_me23]

Here it goes...

Sometime earlier this year, I was caught at the barriers having only paid for part of my journey, this was an honest mistake but the person at the gate took some notes down, and told me I shouldn't worry about it and it won't go anywhere. He then went on to give me some "advice" as to how it could be done better. I answered his questions and went about with my day.

Things had been really really tight so as a way to save money, I took his "advice" and I started to pay for only part of my journey using a travel card. A few months after the previous incident I was followed from my home station to another station. The train I usually take, and the one I had the travel card for had been cancelled and I had forgotten my wallet at home. I tried to use my apple pay on the ticket machines but it didn't let me even though I had money on the card. I made a split decision to run through the barriers and hope that I would be able to get the tickets on the train. When I got on the train I just lost my head a bit and completely forgot to get a ticket. When I got to the other barriers I tried using my apple pay and oddly enough it let me go through. When I got through I was met by two men who asked me to provide a valid ticket. It seemed very serious and to be honest with you I was really scared. I hadn't realised the gravity of what I had been doing(which I know does seem stupid).

Now I've got a court summons for sometime in early August for the earlier incident and I'm worried sick. I honestly did not know the consequences of my actions. The court summons says that I travelled without having any money to pay, when I'm sure that's not what actually happened. Also, even though I said No Comment when asked whether I deliberately intended to travel without paying, it's been recorded as I said yes.

I can only imagine that this means that I am due in court for the second incident as well. If I had known the gravity of what had happened before I never would have done anything like that again.

I know I don't deserve it, but I really do need some help to avoid getting this on my criminal record. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Here it goes...

Sometime earlier this year, I was caught at the barriers having only paid for part of my journey, this was an honest mistake but the person at the gate took some notes down, and told me I shouldn't worry about it and it won't go anywhere. He then went on to give me some "advice" as to how it could be done better. I answered his questions and went about with my day.

Things had been really really tight so as a way to save money, I took his "advice" and I started to pay for only part of my journey using a travel card. A few months after the previous incident I was followed from my home station to another station. The train I usually take, and the one I had the travel card for had been cancelled and I had forgotten my wallet at home. I tried to use my apple pay on the ticket machines but it didn't let me even though I had money on the card. I made a split decision to run through the barriers and hope that I would be able to get the tickets on the train. When I got on the train I just lost my head a bit and completely forgot to get a ticket. When I got to the other barriers I tried using my apple pay and oddly enough it let me go through. When I got through I was met by two men who asked me to provide a valid ticket. It seemed very serious and to be honest with you I was really scared. I hadn't realised the gravity of what I had been doing(which I know does seem stupid).

Now I've got a court summons for sometime in early August for the earlier incident and I'm worried sick. I honestly did not know the consequences of my actions. The court summons says that I travelled without having any money to pay, when I'm sure that's not what actually happened. Also, even though I said No Comment when asked whether I deliberately intended to travel without paying, it's been recorded as I said yes.

I can only imagine that this means that I am due in court for the second incident as well. If I had known the gravity of what had happened before I never would have done anything like that again.

I know I don't deserve it, but I really do need some help to avoid getting this on my criminal record. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Which organisation is prosecuting you? If it is TfL, an out of court settlement for what seems like a clear-cut case of fare evasion is highly unlikely (though not entirely impossible). If it is a train company, the chance is greater but it will likely cost you a significant amount. If you are tight on money then you may not be able to afford this.

 

[Puffing Devil]

Sometime earlier this year, I was caught at the barriers having only paid for part of my journey, this was an honest mistake but the person at the gate took some notes down, and told me I shouldn't worry about it and it won't go anywhere. He then went on to give me some "advice" as to how it could be done better. I answered his questions and went about with my day.

I'm struggling to get past this - are you suggesting that a member of staff told you how to evade your fare, or did they suggest a cheaper way of making your whole journey with a valid ticket?

 

[Gareth Marston]

I'm struggling to get past this - are you suggesting that a member of staff told you how to evade your fare, or did they suggest a cheaper way of making your whole journey with a valid ticket?

I took it that the OP got some advice on splitting tickets. However the OP has still traveled without a valid ticket twice by their own post.

 

[help_me23]

Which organisation is prosecuting you? If it is TfL, an out of court settlement for what seems like a clear-cut case of fare evasion is highly unlikely (though not entirely impossible). If it is a train company, the chance is greater but it will likely cost you a significant amount. If you are tight on money then you may not be able to afford this.

It is south eastern, are there any chances there. Also how do I go about asking for an out of court settlement?

 

[Fawkes Cat]

A couple of points about the criminal record issue:

- what legislation have you been charged under? If it is the Regulation of the Railways Act (RORA), then conviction will lead to a criminal record. If it is the railway bye-laws, then a conviction *won't* lead to a criminal record. Note that the choice of what you are prosecuted under is one for the railway, rather than for you.
- assuming the worst and that it is a RORA prosecution: having a criminal record is not fun (excepting miscarriages of justice, people with criminal records have done something wrong, and need to take the consequences) but neither is it the end of the world. For quite a few jobs, university courses, voluntary work and so on, you may have to do a DBS check which will show up recordable offences (such as a RORA conviction). You will need to be prepared to discuss this with your new employer. Since fare dodging is a matter of honesty, you will have to convince your employer that despite the conviction you are basically honest. On the basis of what I have seen, almost all employers see one conviction for fare dodging as a forgivable mistake. Where they might have a problem is where there are several convictions, as that looks like you haven't learnt from your experience. If I have read what you have written correctly, you are worried that you may be prosecuted twice. If you are right that means that in future, you really need to behave properly on the railways, and avoid being chased again for fare dodging.

 

[help_me23]

A couple of points about the criminal record issue:

- what legislation have you been charged under? If it is the Regulation of the Railways Act (RORA), then conviction will lead to a criminal record. If it is the railway bye-laws, then a conviction *won't* lead to a criminal record. Note that the choice of what you are prosecuted under is one for the railway, rather than for you.
- assuming the worst and that it is a RORA prosecution: having a criminal record is not fun (excepting miscarriages of justice, people with criminal records have done something wrong, and need to take the consequences) but neither is it the end of the world. For quite a few jobs, university courses, voluntary work and so on, you may have to do a DBS check which will show up recordable offences (such as a RORA conviction). You will need to be prepared to discuss this with your new employer. Since fare dodging is a matter of honesty, you will have to convince your employer that despite the conviction you are basically honest. On the basis of what I have seen, almost all employers see one conviction for fare dodging as a forgivable mistake. Where they might have a problem is where there are several convictions, as that looks like you haven't learnt from your experience. If I have read what you have written correctly, you are worried that you may be prosecuted twice. If you are right that means that in future, you really need to behave properly on the railways, and avoid being chased again for fare dodging.

1) It's the RORA act
2) I know, it's really poor from me, and now I know the gravity of my actions, I'll never do such a thing again. I just wish I was able to keep my criminal record intact.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

1) It's the RORA act
2) I know, it's really poor from me, and now I know the gravity of my actions, I'll never do such a thing again. I just wish I was able to keep my criminal record intact.

Well, given the way you have described what has happened then I would imagine that, provided Southeastern have sufficient evidence, it would be relatively uncomplicated conviction for them to secure.

However, Southeastern are by no means fundamentally opposed to negotiating an out of court settlement — cf. a £43k out of Court settlement between Southeastern and a wealthy City exec who had commited fraud/fare evasion for a number of years. I am not suggesting any settlement for your behaviour will be quite that expensive, but I would have thought that it might be in the hundreds rather than the tens.

 

[help_me23]

Well, given the way you have described what has happened then I would imagine that, provided Southeastern have sufficient evidence, it would be relatively uncomplicated conviction for them to secure.

However, Southeastern are by no means fundamentally opposed to negotiating an out of court settlement — cf. a £43k out of Court settlement between Southeastern and a wealthy City exec who had commited fraud/fare evasion for a number of years. I am not suggesting any settlement for your behaviour will be quite that expensive, but I would have thought that it might be in the hundreds rather than the tens.

Thanks, that's given me a little bit of hope.

I'm not sure how to structure the letter to South Eastern.

I thought maybe something like this would suffice.

- Apologise
- Impact of criminal conviction
- request out of court settlement

Is this how it's typically done ?

 

[furlong]

Yes - look at some of the other threads in this forum for examples - basically you offer to reimburse them the fares they have missed out on plus their costs in dealing with the matter (a figure they will produce if they agree to settle). While you can mention the impact of a conviction, it's not something that is likely to carry much weight with them so try not to overdo it. You might undertake not to cheat again. Make sure any letter takes everything they already know into account (even if they haven't pieced together all the paperwork yet) - you wouldn't want to settle one case only to find there's a second one following behind.