Intention to prosecute; someone else used my name & address

[mollyoz]

Hi, Im after advice please. I had a notification of Intention to Prosecute.

Latter reads that on Tuesday 18th Sep upon inspection at **** Entered a train for the purpose of travelling on the railway, without a ticket entitling travel.

I didnt use the train that day. I had been using to attend college and have tickets to show but that particular day didnt use the train. I have not been approached by a Revenue Protection Inspector. I can only think someone has used my name and address.
Im stuck on what I should be saying in the section where I have to give my account? Im 21 and confused and scared. Can I go to prison?

 

[ALAN BYRNE]

I'd be more worried about what idiot out there has your personal details????

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Hi, Im after advice please. I had a notification of Intention to Prosecute.

Latter reads that on Tuesday 18th Sep upon inspection at **** Entered a train for the purpose of travelling on the railway, without a ticket entitling travel.

I didnt use the train that day. I had been using to attend college and have tickets to show but that particular day didnt use the train. I have not been approached by a Revenue Protection Inspector. I can only think someone has used my name and address.
Im stuck on what I should be saying in the section where I have to give my account? Im 21 and confused and scared. Can I go to prison?

You certainly can't go to prison over this, provided you respond to letters within the correct timeframe (and even then, it would be unbelievably unlikely).

Simply respond honestly explaining that you did not travel by train at all that day, so clearly someone else must have given your details, so you hope they succeed in their investigation, as the passenger apprehended must clearly have committed the serious offence of giving false details.

The burden of proof lies upon the TOC, so one might expect that if the members of staff who spoke to the person who gave your details had body-worn cameras (as a vast majority of revenue officers do nowadays), that they go and review that footage and determine whether or not it was you they stopped.

Don't let yourself be inconvenienced by the matter - but equally, don't hope it will go away by itself.

 

[najaB]

Can I go to prison?

No. The charge that's being made cannot lead to a custodial sentence.

 

[Western Sunset]

Sounds like it could be one of your college "friends".

 

[EM2]

I'd be more worried about what idiot out there has your personal details????

I can think of a dozen people that could easily supply my name, address and date of birth. Not that they would, but they could.

 

[cuccir]

Simply respond honestly explaining that you did not travel by train at all that day, so clearly someone else must have given your details, so you hope they succeed in their investigation, as the passenger apprehended must clearly have committed the serious offence of giving false details.

The only thing I'd add is a line to say where you were at that time, and that you have witnesses who would be prepared to testify to this. You don't have to name them at this point. While you don't need to provide any information as to where you were, it would show the train company that you're serious.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

The only thing I'd add is a line to say where you were at that time, and that you have witnesses who would be prepared to testify to this. You don't have to name them at this point. While you don't need to provide any information as to where you were, it would show the train company that you're serious.

Always assuming, of course, that you do have witnesses that you were elsewhere.

The advice above that it's up to the railway to prove that it was you, and not for you to prove that you weren't is absolutely right - but if you can demonstrate that you were elsewhere, it will give you peace of mind, and show the railway that you are not a pushover. So think about what you were doing at the time of the alleged offence: is there anyone who can speak for you? Have you till receipts or anything that shows your location and time? Anything on your phone?

Don't worry if you haven't any of these - but as they say, every little helps.

 

[Haywain]

The burden of proof lies upon the TOC, so one might expect that if the members of staff who spoke to the person who gave your details had body-worn cameras (as a vast majority of revenue officers do nowadays), that they go and review that footage and determine whether or not it was you they stopped.

That, of course, could only work if such cameras were in use and if the OP supplies photograph(s) of him or her self.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

That, of course, could only work if such cameras were in use and if the OP supplies photograph(s) of him or her self.

Indeed, but I would have hoped that officers use the cameras for things like this.

 

[Haywain]

Indeed, but I would have hoped that officers use the cameras for things like this.

I believe that the intention of having them, and using them, is in case of abusive and/or violent behaviour having evidence available. In other cases I believe that no recording is kept, but I am not certain of this. In any event, CCTV footage is only ever retained for a relatively short time if it is not known to be required - it is highly unlikely to have been retained for almost 3 months.

 

[najaB]

I believe that the intention of having them, and using them, is in case of abusive and/or violent behaviour having evidence available. In other cases I believe that no recording is kept, but I am not certain of this.

I have also been led to believe the same.

 

[island]

As is typical on this forum, the suggestions to immediately go down the CCTV route are the first resort, and as always, they are a red herring. Any CCTV from the day of the offence is most unlikely to still be held. Particularly so with the reference to bodyworn cameras, which typically hold no more than one shift’s footage before overwriting, unless the user activates a capture option to indicate that something needs to be retained. This, as several users mention, arises only in the case of abusive and violent behaviour.

Let’s therefore leave the CCTV discussion and focus on what can help mollyoz. Whilst, as she has been correctly advised, it is for the train operator to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that it was her who committed the alleged offence, there are a number of steps she can take which will bring the matter to a swifter close. In that respect I endorse the remainder of ForTheLoveOf’s advice and would only add that if she can provide any evidence of what she was doing that day and a statement from a person who can confirm that she was in some other location at the time of the alleged offence, this would tend to be likely to assist.

 

[mollyoz]

I thank you all for your advice. Im still struggling on how to word the statement. Im not very good at putting pen to paper so any help would i be really grateful.
Im getting ill over all this.

Thank you all so much

 

[najaB]

Im still struggling on how to word the statement. Im not very good at putting pen to paper so any help would i be really grateful.

What have you got so far (please remove any personal information)?

 

[Fawkes Cat]

You're writing to convince. That means that the most important thing is to be accurate. As well as that, it would be good if you can also be
- clear
- brief, and
- courteous

Within that, I'd suggest putting something like

Dear Sir or Madam (don't worry too much about the salutation: if the letter you got was signed as being sent by Mr X, start by saying 'Dear Mr X')

Thank you for your letter of (whenever it was sent to you)

I did not travel by train on 18 September, so there is no reason for you to accuse me of attempting to travel without a ticket. I can only assume that someone else gave you my name and address.

(Only include this paragraph if you do have the information) As far as I can remember, on 18 September I (explain what you were doing that day and where you were. If the railway have said what time they are interested in, concentrate on that time). I have witnesses who are prepared to write to you to confirm these facts (again, only include this bit if you do have witnesses who will write in your support).

I would be grateful if you could confirm that you will not be taking any further action against me in this matter.

Yours sincerely (if you wrote to Mr X) / faithfully (if you wrote to 'Sir or Madam')

Your Name

 

[mollyoz]

What have you got so far (please remove any personal information)?

To be honest Nothing. Im in too much of a state to think properly.

 

[najaB]

To be honest Nothing. Im in too much of a state to think properly.

In that case, use @Fawkes Cat's letter as a guide. You want to make it clear that you didn't travel by train that day, present any supporting information (e.g. "This can be confirmed by my friend xxx."), and ask for them to close the case.

 

[AmicableMan]

As previously stated, Please do not ignore the letter. The onus is on the railway company to prove it was you, however if you don't reply and inform them that you believe an impostor gave your details it may lead to a court summons.

It may well be that they have quite a good description of the person stopped on the inspectors report, and would welcome any evidence that it was not you.

Be clear, confirm that it wasn't you travelling and you believe someone has provided your details. I'm sure that would be the end of the matter.

 

[6Gman]

You're writing to convince. That means that the most important thing is to be accurate. As well as that, it would be good if you can also be
- clear
- brief, and
- courteous

Within that, I'd suggest putting something like

Dear Sir or Madam (don't worry too much about the salutation: if the letter you got was signed as being sent by Mr X, start by saying 'Dear Mr X')

Thank you for your letter of (whenever it was sent to you)

I did not travel by train on 18 September, so there is no reason for you to accuse me of attempting to travel without a ticket. I can only assume that someone else gave you my name and address.

(Only include this paragraph if you do have the information) As far as I can remember, on 18 September I (explain what you were doing that day and where you were. If the railway have said what time they are interested in, concentrate on that time). I have witnesses who are prepared to write to you to confirm these facts (again, only include this bit if you do have witnesses who will write in your support).

I would be grateful if you could confirm that you will not be taking any further action against me in this matter.

Yours sincerely (if you wrote to Mr X) / faithfully (if you wrote to 'Sir or Madam')

Your Name

The only slight alteration I would suggest would be to replace the "there is no reason for you to accuse me of ..." with something less confrontational. Perhaps: "so I cannot have been the person stopped by your staff member. It would appear that someone else gave you my name and address".

 

[some bloke]

The main task may be to deal with the worry. It's really their problem, not yours. It's hard to imagine a court doing anything other than being nice to you and getting irritated at the company, and the company should be aware of this. Your letter is saving them trouble.

I think the version in your first post was a good start.

Can anyone on here say whether it might help to ring the company, notify the police, tell the company mollyoz is prepared to send further evidence if asked, or consider sending further information if it comes to mind later?

It may be best to get the basic message to them out of the way, to give yourself more peace of mind. It shouldn't matter if no-one else remembers what you did that day.

How about this, using suggestions above? You could leave out parts that aren't suitable.

...........

I did not travel by train on 18 September, and no-one inspecting train tickets has ever asked for my name and address, so I cannot have been the person stopped by your staff member. It would appear that someone else gave you my details.

As you will appreciate, it is now three months since 18 September. However, [I know/as far as I can remember] on that day I was [at home/wherever]. I know I did not travel by train on the 18th because [.........]. [I have witnesses who are/my friend xxxx is] prepared to write to you to confirm that I was at [place] at [times of day].

I would be grateful if you could confirm that you will not be taking any further action against me in this matter.

 

[DelW]

I'd be more worried about what idiot out there has your personal details????

I can think of a dozen people that could easily supply my name, address and date of birth. Not that they would, but they could.

The OP made no mention of date of birth, only that the presumed miscreant must have given an RPI her name and address. Anyone's name and address is hardly a secret, every telephone directory (remember them?) had thousands of them listed...

 

[EM2]

The OP made no mention of date of birth

I know, I merely mention it as the sort of information many people might know about someone else.