Caught Forged Train Ticket without Rail-card

[Triste_sadswan]

Hi,

I was caught with a forged train ticket. I had purchased a ticket without Rail card and I had edited out the "16-25 Rail-card" and put a "-" in its place. The Northern train staff caught me and took my details along with photos of the ticket. I had received a letter from Prosecution and debt unit asking for an explanation before they investigate. It was mentioned in the letter to either reply via email or sent back the letter via post after writing the explanation on it. I had replied back via email telling them the terrible financial situation I am in because my Dad has been hospitalized due to a heart attack and a stroke later on recently due to which I did this mistake for a few months. I had begged for forgiveness in the response back and also purchased a valid rail-card. I have requested them to please handle it out of court. I have not received any reply back even after 5 days. What should I do ? I am very tensed and have been repenting so badly due to the mistake I did. Is the response getting delayed because they are trying to take this matter into court ? Anyone have any idea how long will the response take ? Will it be a reply back to the email or will it be another letter send via post ?

 

[transportphoto]

I think you’ve already realised the cheapest option here (and probably the least amount of effort, time, etc) would have been for you to buy the valid railcard in the first instance. (£30 for a year, they’re not bad value!)

What you may see as a mistake now was unfortunately a pre-meditated decision to commit fraud against the railways. It is not unheard of for fraud cases to be passed to the Police for a criminal investigation and prosecution via the CPS. Northern may also opt to bring a prosecution in the Magistrates Court.

Five days is nothing, sadly, this case could be going on for quite some time. Given you’ve replied, there’s unlikely to be much more you can do now other than sit and wait.

Unfortunately reality may have caught up with you here - for your sake, let’s hope for the most forgiving outcome. Our best wishes as well to your Father in light of his ill health.

 

[AlbertBeale]

The fact that you have now got the right railcard will count in your favour in terms of persuading them that you won't repeat the offence - which is part of what you need to persuade them if you're to get them to handle it without a court prosecution.

Once you've heard back from them, you could upload all the correspondence here (after blanking out all identifying details/names/references etc), so that people can give you more targetted advice.

I think it likely that they will again use the post to respond to you; also, you're dealing with one such case, the people writing to you are dealing with many of them - so don't expect instant responses. If you do get worried about not hearing from them, and are concerned that a letter has gone astray, you could contact them and check whether they've sent anything. But that seems premature after just a few days.

 

[AndroidBango]

Had you done this before prior to being caught? It's likely that they will check your purchasing history.

 

[transportphoto]

Had you done this before prior to being caught? It's likely that they will check your purchasing history.

Yes, they did:

I did this mistake for a few months.

 

[AndroidBango]

Yes, they did:

Sorry, and thanks - note to self: don't post without putting my glasses on!

 

[30907]

What you may see as a mistake now was unfortunately a pre-meditated decision to commit fraud against the railways. It is not unheard of for fraud cases to be passed to the Police for a criminal investigation and prosecution via the CPS. Northern may also opt to bring a prosecution in the Magistrates Court.

Northern may mention the Fraud Act in their letters, but the second of those outcomes is much more common (I can only recall one exception*); if you engage with the company you stand a decent chance of being able to avoid court, but you will probably have to pay back in full all the fares you avoided, which won't be cheap - count up the number of occasions, find the full one-way fare, and add £100+ to get an idea of the cost

*and there were special circumstances - he was convicted of fraud but jailed for "perverting the course of justice" aka trying to deceive the court. You will not be going to prison, even if you go to court