Zeekay
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Hello good day everyone.
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Intention to prosecute Thameslink
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You will get far clearer answers shortly, but although your reply arrived rather late (do you have proof of posting date), I would anticipate you will be given the option to pay an administration fee plus the amount underpaid on the ticket. The admin fee is not going to be insignificant, but better than a criminal record.
NoOnesFool
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Good afternoon.
Thameslink may be working through a backlog of cases, but they do have 6 months from the incident to bring a case to court. Have Thameslink said whether they are intending to prosecute under the Railway Byelaws or the Regulation Of Railways Act? Is this the first time you have come to the attention of Thameslink's prosecution department? If so, they may write to offer you the chance to settle out ot court, this could include the cost of the fare avoided and administration fees. As you have deliberately evaded the correct fare, it would be wise to accept this offer.
As you have already responded to the initial letter, it may be of little use now but do engage with all correspondance and stick to the facts, apologise and assure Thameslink that this will not happen again. Offer to pay the fare and any asosciated costs.
Thameslink may be working through a backlog of cases, but they do have 6 months from the incident to bring a case to court. Have Thameslink said whether they are intending to prosecute under the Railway Byelaws or the Regulation Of Railways Act? Is this the first time you have come to the attention of Thameslink's prosecution department? If so, they may write to offer you the chance to settle out ot court, this could include the cost of the fare avoided and administration fees. As you have deliberately evaded the correct fare, it would be wise to accept this offer.
As you have already responded to the initial letter, it may be of little use now but do engage with all correspondance and stick to the facts, apologise and assure Thameslink that this will not happen again. Offer to pay the fare and any asosciated costs.
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Mcr Warrior
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Welcome to the forum!
When you say it's your "first time offence" do you mean just that, or that this is the first time you've been caught?
The train company investigation team will be able to go through your ticket purchase history with the likes of Trainline to see if you've previously incorrectly claimed railcard discounts to which you weren't entitled.
Assuming that it was a one-off, and you're not some serial offender, you may get the opportunity to "settle out of court" by paying the train company an administration fee of around £100 plus the cost of the ticket not properly paid for, which I believe is £12. This offer is not guaranteed, though.
If you do get taken to court, from what you say, there's a fair chance that you could be found guilty, so this is normally to be avoided, if possible.
In the meantime, are you eligible for maybe a 16-25 railcard for future travel?
When you say it's your "first time offence" do you mean just that, or that this is the first time you've been caught?
The train company investigation team will be able to go through your ticket purchase history with the likes of Trainline to see if you've previously incorrectly claimed railcard discounts to which you weren't entitled.
Assuming that it was a one-off, and you're not some serial offender, you may get the opportunity to "settle out of court" by paying the train company an administration fee of around £100 plus the cost of the ticket not properly paid for, which I believe is £12. This offer is not guaranteed, though.
If you do get taken to court, from what you say, there's a fair chance that you could be found guilty, so this is normally to be avoided, if possible.
In the meantime, are you eligible for maybe a 16-25 railcard for future travel?
Zeekay
Member
I purchased a rail card immediately.
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NoOnesFool
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Were these normal paper tickets or 'electronic' ones on an app? And if paper tickets, were they bought at the station or online?
Zeekay
Member
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NoOnesFool
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It may be possible that your Trainline account details were retrievable from your printed Trainline ticket (I was hoping someone would be able to confirm this). In such circumstances, they may well investigate the other two tickets you use fraudulently, and this would affect the leniency the Proeecutions team would apply to this case. You have effectively evaded the correct fare on multiple occasions. Hopefully someone can confirm if the RPO can retrieve your Trainline details from the ticket. If this is the case, I would reccomend seeking the assistance of a solicitor and one who specialises in fare evasion cases.
There is really no need. If you feel you need representation choose a reputable firm, you don't need to go for a very expensive specialist for what is a fairly minor case. In any case I'd wait until they reply again, they may be willing to settle the matter.
(As an aside, if they were going to consider past offences they would likely have mentioned that in the first letter).
NoOnesFool
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Repeat offences are taken much more seriously, and the TOC will have more of an interest in pursuing prosecution. It depends on if they can access the OP's Trainline account history.
They are, but unless you've defrauded by thousands you probably don't need a specialist solicitor...
Zeekay
Member
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
I have still not gotten a response from them and it’s 14 days after I sent in my response. Do I need to reach out to them or just wait on their response as I am a bit anxious to know the outcome.
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
I have still not gotten a response from them and it’s 14 days after I sent in my response. Do I need to reach out to them or just wait on their response as I am a bit anxious to know the outcome.
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hey any update yet? Did you receive a response
Zeekay
Member
No I haven’t received any update.
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