Tfl prosecution

[I hate tfl]

So I was caught by a tfl inspector ( he was in plain cloths) for using freedom pass, he took my details n all, including my name address D.O.B, I did ask him if it was possible to get a onspot fine. Fast forward to the next week I got a letter to confirm my details but there was a typo in the name to who the letter was adress this continue to the next letter as well, now afte 3 months I received a court letter addressd to me saying i have to attend court due to the misuse of freedom pass,

On the court letter addressed to me has a typo in my name, doesn't this make it a completely different person??? So when I attended court can I tell the judge that its not me and my name is *xyz* and not *wxyz* i committed smth around 80 offence n I have to pay £950 including the courts supercharged. Bcz legally its not me, and yes I did give my correct name and the officer confirmation it with my ID

 

[Ducky88]

80 counts of misuse is pretty high, i am not a small typo in the name will let you off the hook

 

[I hate tfl]

80 counts of misuse is pretty high, i am not a small typo in the name will let you off the hook

Doesn't it make me a completely different person? They added another alphabet

 

[Fawkes Cat]

So I was caught by a tfl inspector ( he was in plain cloths) for using freedom pass, he took my details n all, including my name address D.O.B, I did ask him if it was possible to get a onspot fine. Fast forward to the next week I got a letter to confirm my details but there was a typo in the name to who the letter was adress this continue to the next letter as well, now afte 3 months I received a court letter addressd to me saying i have to attend court due to the misuse of freedom pass,

On the court letter addressed to me has a typo in my name, doesn't this make it a completely different person??? So when I attended court can I tell the judge that its not me and my name is *xyz* and not *wxyz* i committed smth around 80 offence n I have to pay £950 including the courts supercharged. Bcz legally its not me, and yes I did give my correct name and the officer confirmation it with my ID

80 counts of misuse is pretty high, i am not a small typo in the name will let you off the hook

I’m with @Ducky88 here. If getting your name a bit wrong was enough to stop a prosecution, everyone would say their name was Micky Mouse and then get off in court by producing evidence that they were really Donald Duck. If the name is good enough to identify you then the prosecution will go ahead.

 

[skyhigh]

On the court letter addressed to me has a typo in my name, doesn't this make it a completely different person??? So when I attended court can I tell the judge that its not me and my name is *xyz* and not *wxyz* i committed smth around 80 offence n I have to pay £950 including the courts supercharged. Bcz legally its not me, and yes I did give my correct name and the officer confirmation it with my ID

The court will just tell you to stop messing around.

You know full well it was you who was stopped and the letters are for you.

 

[I hate tfl]

The court will just tell you to stop messing around.

You know full well it was you who was stopped and the letters are for you.

That's true let's see what happens, I also wanted to know like can they reduce the amount like the £950 bcz I did mention I have extream financial crices and also have evidence. I'm really scared please help

 

[skyhigh]

That's true let's see what happens, I also wanted to know like can they reduce the amount like the £950 bcz I did mention I have extream financial crices and also have evidence. I'm really scared please help

Did you reply to the letters from TfL?

 

[AlterEgo]

That's true let's see what happens, I also wanted to know like can they reduce the amount like the £950 bcz I did mention I have extream financial crices and also have evidence. I'm really scared please help

On what grounds do you think the court should not order you to pay back the fares you evaded?

 

[I hate tfl]

I'm happy to pay the £500 but idk wht the court fees are so high

On what grounds do you think the court should not order you to pay back the fares you eva

On what grounds do you think the court should not order you to pay back the fares you eva

 

[AlterEgo]

I'm happy to pay the £500 but idk wht the court fees are so high

You will not get a chance to argue about this. You will have to pay the prosecution’s costs, a fine linked to your income, and a surcharge, as well as repay the fares evaded.

These are the consequences of committing 80 criminal offences I’m afraid, as well as believing to think a typo in your name makes you legally bulletproof from being prosecuted.

 

[superkopite]

On the off chance that anyone related to the case reads this thread, your username is not going to do you any favours

 

[I hate tfl]

You will not get a chance to argue about this. You will have to pay the prosecution’s costs, a fine linked to your income, and a surcharge, as well as repay the fares evaded.

These are the consequences of committing 80 criminal offences I’m afraid, as well as believing to think a typo in your name makes you legally bulletproof from being prsecuted.

Well it is what it is I hope I don't get a criminal rec lol

You will not get a chance to argue about this. You will have to pay the prosecution’s costs, a fine linked to your income, and a surcharge, as well as repay the fares evaded.

These are the consequences of committing 80 criminal offences I’m afraid, as well as believing to think a typo in your name makes you legally bulletproof from being prosecute

 

[skyhigh]

Well it is what it is I hope I don't get a criminal rec lol

You've been summoned to court. Unless you can convince TfL not to prosecute orhave a compelling reason for the court to find you Not Guilty, you will very soon have a criminal record.

 

[Elecman]

Well it is what it is I hope I don't get a criminal rec lol

You are almost certain to be found guilty and hence convicted of the crime and thus have a criminal record

 

[Jamiescott1]

Tfl got my name wrong continously despite the inspector copying my id and me correcting the mistake twice in correspondence with them.
The small spelling mistake on your name won't make any difference.

 

[dosxuk]

So when I attended court can I tell the judge that its not me and my name is *xyz* and not *wxyz*

Sure you can tell them that.

And what would you plan to say when they go "ok, but while you're here, were you stopped by <inspector> on <date>, having presented a Freedom pass that was not yours"?

 

[skyhigh]

And what would you plan to say when they go "ok, but while you're here, were you stopped by <inspector> on <date>, having presented a Freedom pass that was not yours"?

Bearing in mind that lying under oath is a much more serious offence than any ticketing irregularities.

If you were to say 'no not me' and the prosecution were to supply evidence that it actually was... You'd be looking at a much larger fine or potentially even a custodial sentence for contempt of court *plus* the TFL conviction on top.

And just for clarity - if your "cunning plan" is to ignore the summons and pretend it wasn't you then you'll just be convicted in your absence, sent a letter asking for the fine and if still ignored you'll end up with bailiffs at your door.

You are firmly in the process now and no typo is going to get you out of it.

 

[swt_passenger]

So how did the OP get hold of the freedom pass anyway? If it belonged to a close relative (and has been withdrawn as usual), presumably that’s going to make any slight typo in a name even less important, especially if they live in the same household…

 

[yorkie]

He took all my details including my name, address D.O.B, I did ask him if it was possible to get a on the spot fine.

A Penalty Fare is a charge which companies such as TfL generally make when there is no accusation of committing a criminal offence; it's not an appropriate resolution for an instance of committing fraud on this scale.

Some train companies might agree to negotiate a hefty out of court settlement, however for such a settlement to be reached the amount would have to be agreeable to both parties. I would expect it to be four figure sum.

Even if you want to settle, TfL may be reluctant to allow the matter to be settled out of court, so will possibly not even agree to such a settlement; therefore the matter is likely to go to court. The administrative error won't get you off the hook and you will likely have to pay a very hefty fine, accompanied by a criminal record.

 

[I hate tfl]

A Penalty Fare is a charge which companies such as TfL generally make when there is no accusation of committing a criminal offence; it's not an appropriate resolution for an instance of committing fraud on this scale.

Some train companies might agree to negotiate a hefty out of court settlement, however for such a settlement to be reached the amount would have to be agreeable to both parties. I would expect it to be four figure sum.

Even if you want to settle, TfL may be reluctant to allow the matter to be settled out of court, so will possibly not even agree to such a settlement; therefore the matter is likely to go to court. The administrative error won't get you off the hook and you will likely have to pay a very hefty fine, accompanied by a criminal record.

Anyway thanks everyone, really helped me to figure out what I'm gonna get My slef into my court date is next week I'll update yall

 

[Benjwri]

Anyway thanks everyone, really helped me to figure out what I'm gonna get My slef into my court date is next week I'll update yall

I hope it goes okay for you. Just to further emphasise do not claim it wasn’t you. That you were caught means they probably were already investigating you and were at the station they caught you solely for you, armed with photos from previous visits. Almost every TfL gate line is covered by CCTV, there is almost 0 chance they don’t have a photo of you.

If you try to claim it wasn’t you because of a spelling mistake the first thing they will do is introduce these photos, and as others have mentioned you will be in a lot more trouble.

Have you pled yet? Pleading guilty will reduce the fine, they have you bang to rights from the sounds of it, there is no point in a not guilty plea on a charge such as this with the evidence TfL normally have.

 

[ikcdab]

to be honest you need to own this. You have seriously defrauded TFL and claiming it wasn't you will only make things far worse. The best advice now is to plead guilty as this will minimise the eventual fine that you will have to pay.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

It's worth noting that the fine is based on your income. As I understand it, you should have been sent a form to fill in to tell the court how much money you have coming in. If you don't fill it in then the assumption will be that you have quite a big income so you will have to pay quite a big fine. So it's in your interest to fill it in.

And yes, you will get a criminal record, which isn't good. But for many purposes, offences like this come off your criminal record after a year or so (someone who knows more about this than I do might be along soon to confirm details). While systematic fare dodging isn't good, you may also be surprised to find how supportive your employer is. So don't give up hope!

 

[Cowley]

I think we’ll put a hold on this for now and if there’s further news we’ll reopen it.