Can I avoid a criminal record - please help!

[jack84]

Good Morning. I have been a fool and have been caught without a valid ticket. I am now very scared of the likely consequences of prosecution and a criminal record which will result in losing my job and career. I am ashamed to admit I have been “short ticketing” two days a week for three months since finally getting a job in London after graduating. I have never been in any trouble before and stupidly thought the outcome would be a fine for not having a ticket. I now realise and expect it to be very different and fear the worst. I cannot sleep with worry and regret.
I travel on Thameslink trains from Flitwick to London but have only buying a ticket for the next stop. To make matters worse I bought the e tickets with a railcard I don’t have. I cannot believe I have been this naive and immature. To make matters even worse, I have also been caught before but only given a fine to pay the same day. I therefore believed this was the norm and continued my deceit.
I have a 40 year career ahead of me which will be in ruins, not to mention my feelings of guilt, embarrassment and remorse. I will never do this again but may be too late as I have no real mitigating circumstances other than having a large student debt to pay off and being extremely naive.
While I expect little sympathy, I would really appreciate any advice? Should I immediately employ a solicitor to act on my behalf or reach out to Thameslink myself? Any recommendations for solicitors please? I have not yet received a letter from Thamslink. I think the best possible outcome I can hope for is an out of court settlement where I pay for three months of tickets plus admin fees? What are my chances?
Wow, what a fool I have been!!
Thank you in advance for any help you can give.

 

[WesternLancer]

Good Morning. I have been a fool and have been caught without a valid ticket. I am now very scared of the likely consequences of prosecution and a criminal record which will result in losing my job and career. I am ashamed to admit I have been “short ticketing” two days a week for three months since finally getting a job in London after graduating. I have never been in any trouble before and stupidly thought the outcome would be a fine for not having a ticket. I now realise and expect it to be very different and fear the worst. I cannot sleep with worry and regret.
I travel on Thameslink trains from Flitwick to London but have only buying a ticket for the next stop. To make matters worse I bought the e tickets with a railcard I don’t have. I cannot believe I have been this naive and immature. To make matters even worse, I have also been caught before but only given a fine to pay the same day. I therefore believed this was the norm and continued my deceit.
I have a 40 year career ahead of me which will be in ruins, not to mention my feelings of guilt, embarrassment and remorse. I will never do this again but may be too late as I have no real mitigating circumstances other than having a large student debt to pay off and being extremely naive.
While I expect little sympathy, I would really appreciate any advice? Should I immediately employ a solicitor to act on my behalf or reach out to Thameslink myself? Any recommendations for solicitors please? I have not yet received a letter from Thamslink. I think the best possible outcome I can hope for is an out of court settlement where I pay for three months of tickets plus admin fees? What are my chances?
Wow, what a fool I have been!!
Thank you in advance for any help you can give.

Welcome to the forum

Yes, as you know you have been a fool, and you have also assumed the railway are stupid as you got caught before and assumed that you could do the same thing again and they wouldn't take a tougher line next time, so they will think you have not learned your lesson and are a habitual fare evader - hence the report for investigation and potential prosecution. BUT - we have all done daft stuff and there is every chance that if you engage with hem you can avoid the worst case scenario (prosecution) here.

At this stage you probably don't need a solicitor, but there are ones mentioned on this forum that you could use or get quotes from should that be something you need in due course, or want to do now.

But for now:
You need to wait for the railway to contact you so presume you gave and they noted down a correct postal address to write to you.

For now have a look at a few of the many cases involving Thameslink on this forum and read them through - you will see that they are one of the we more reasonable companies to deal with in terms of obtaining an out of court settlement if you engage with them.

Have a read of a few threads involving Thameslink to get the general idea of what will happen and what you should do

Also - from this point onwards ensure that you have 100% correct train tickets. One thing you can do not to help show them you have learned your lesson is to buy tickets that help support that fact - eg given your travel pattern you could perhaps buy a flexi season ticket - this will help you make the point to them that you have indeed learned a lesson and taken action to legitimately save money on your travel form now on. Make sure you abide by the rules of the flexi season ref enacting it etc when you travel though!

 

[Gloster]

Should you be offered an out of court settlement by Thameslink they are likely to ask you to pay the full Anytime Single fare for each and every journey that they believe you made without the correct tickets, i.e. two fares for a return journey, one out and one back. No allowance will be made for any money that you did pay or for any railcards you may hold. They will then add their investigation costs, which normally start at £150. If they make the offer, and that is entirely their decision, you will be expected to pay the sum in full in a very short period, usually a maximum of 14 days, after the offer is made.

 

[jack84]

Welcome to the forum

Yes, as you know you have been a fool, and you have also assumed the railway are stupid as you got caught before and assumed that you could do the same thing again and they wouldn't take a tougher line next time, so they will think you have not learned your lesson and are a habitual fare evader - hence the report for investigation and potential prosecution. BUT - we have all done daft stuff and there is every chance that if you engage with hem you can avoid the worst case scenario (prosecution) here.

At this stage you probably don't need a solicitor, but there are ones mentioned on this forum that you could use or get quotes from should that be something you need in due course, or want to do now.

But for now:
You need to wait for the railway to contact you so presume you gave and they noted down a correct postal address to write to you.

For now have a look at a few of the many cases involving Thameslink on this forum and read them through - you will see that they are one of the we more reasonable companies to deal with in terms of obtaining an out of court settlement if you engage with them.

Have a read of a few threads involving Thameslink to get the general idea of what will happen and what you should do

Also - from this point onwards ensure that you have 100% correct train tickets. One thing you can do not to help show them you have learned your lesson is to buy tickets that help support that fact - eg given your travel pattern you could perhaps buy a flexi season ticket - this will help you make the point to them that you have indeed learned a lesson and taken action to legitimately save money on your travel form now on. Make sure you abide by the rules of the flexi season ref enacting it etc when you travel though!

Thank you.

Should you be offered an out of court settlement by Thameslink they are likely to ask you to pay the full Anytime Single fare for each and every journey that they believe you made without the correct tickets, i.e. two fares for a return journey, one out and one back. No allowance will be made for any money that you did pay or for any railcards you may hold. They will then add their investigation costs, which normally start at £150. If they make the offer, and that is entirely their decision, you will be expected to pay the sum in full in a very short period, usually a maximum of 14 days, after the offer is made.

Thank you. I am making plans to ensure i can pay in full immediately if offered an out of court settlement.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

So, as others have said, the short answer to your question is "Yes" provided that you cooperate fully with the train company

Start saving money now (possibly around £1k mark) as they will want settlement in full - i.e. not in instalments

 

[jack84]

Welcome to the forum

Yes, as you know you have been a fool, and you have also assumed the railway are stupid as you got caught before and assumed that you could do the same thing again and they wouldn't take a tougher line next time, so they will think you have not learned your lesson and are a habitual fare evader - hence the report for investigation and potential prosecution. BUT - we have all done daft stuff and there is every chance that if you engage with hem you can avoid the worst case scenario (prosecution) here.

At this stage you probably don't need a solicitor, but there are ones mentioned on this forum that you could use or get quotes from should that be something you need in due course, or want to do now.

But for now:
You need to wait for the railway to contact you so presume you gave and they noted down a correct postal address to write to you.

For now have a look at a few of the many cases involving Thameslink on this forum and read them through - you will see that they are one of the we more reasonable companies to deal with in terms of obtaining an out of court settlement if you engage with them.

Have a read of a few threads involving Thameslink to get the general idea of what will happen and what you should do

Also - from this point onwards ensure that you have 100% correct train tickets. One thing you can do not to help show them you have learned your lesson is to buy tickets that help support that fact - eg given your travel pattern you could perhaps buy a flexi season ticket - this will help you make the point to them that you have indeed learned a lesson and taken action to legitimately save money on your travel form now on. Make sure you abide by the rules of the flexi season ref enacting it etc when you travel though!

Thank you WesternLancer. Some great advice. I do of course intend to fully comply with the process and will buy the flexi season ticket.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Jul 2024 ==

One further question ..... should i email Thameslink immediately to express my remorse and make it clear i will fully co-operate with the process?

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you WesternLancer. Some great advice. I do of course intend to fully comply with the process and will buy the flexi season ticket.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Jul 2024 ==

One further question ..... should i email Thameslink immediately to express my remorse and make it clear i will fully co-operate with the process?

No. Wait until you hear from them is the regular advice given here. Check for e mails that may go to spam and open all hard copy post asap

 

[John R]

other than having a large student debt to pay off and being extremely naive.

You should think of student loan repayments as being a graduate tax, which is 9% over a certain salary (around 26k), and which will cease 30 years after you graduate (except for the most recent scheme, which I doubt applies to you as those in it won't be graduating yet IIRC). A large number of people will never pay off their loan, nor does the government expect them to. So to some extent, what you pay in the interim is irrelevant.

If you think of it like that, it should feel less like you have a millstone around your neck.