Thameslink witness receipt : what to write in letter?

[MAC0168]

Hello

I have received witness statement receipt from Luton station.
My faults are :

1. I could not provide railcard
2. Although I travelled from Farringdon,I bought ticket from Luton airport parkway to Luton to save money. (I have done this on a few occasion)

My question is

1. When the guard at station caught me interrogating from which station did I travel and I said Luton airport parkway,they said they will check the camera. Is it true?
2.As my intention was to give minimum fare ,will I be taken straightaway to the court? (This is the first time I get caught) although , when the guard was recording the incident,she selected I had intention to provide full fare.
3. When I will receive the letter,should I mention my previous journeys ? (I have checked my bank card statements,I had 3 most recent journeys on July and August. Before this,my journey was on april)
4.In the above circumstances,if I acknowledge my fault and request for out of the court settlement,will it be agreed upon?

I am really sorry what I did. I will never do it again.

Many thanks.

 

[Gloster]

Please post an image of any paperwork that you received in this thread so that the experts know exactly what the situation is. Please obscure your name, address and any other identifying details such as reference numbers.

 

[John R]

Welcome to the forum. Yours isn't the first case of someone "short-faring" by buying a ticket from Luton Airport Parkway, and you can be sure that the train company is alive to the practice too.

They don't need to check the cameras, as your ticket won't have been scanned at the gateline, and so long as the gateline was in use then that will prove that you didn't join the train there. And they will very likely check your online account, and assume that other "short tickets" were bought for the same purpose.

You need to wait and see what they say in their letter when they write to you.

The good news is that GTR (Thameslink) is usually very willing with an offender who hasn't come to their attention before to offer an out of court settlement, which usually covers the fares you didn't pay, and an administration charge, which sometimes is as low as £50, but may be higher if they have to do a lot of investigation.

It goes without saying that you absolutely must ensure you buy the correct ticket in future, and in particular buy it before you board your train as buying an online ticket once on board is not allowed, and inspectors will pick those cases up.

 

[MAC0168]

Please post an image of any paperwork that you received in this thread so that the experts know exactly what the situation is. Please obscure your name, address and any other identifying details such as reference numbers.

It is the standard receipt. Nothing is mentioned here about what was the conversation between us at station.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Aug 2024 ==

Welcome to the forum. Yours isn't the first case of someone "short-faring" by buying a ticket from Luton Airport Parkway, and you can be sure that the train company is alive to the practice too.

They don't need to check the cameras, as your ticket won't have been scanned at the gateline, and so long as the gateline was in use then that will prove that you didn't join the train there. And they will very likely check your online account, and assume that other "short tickets" were bought for the same purpose.

You need to wait and see what they say in their letter when they write to you.

The good news is that GTR (Thameslink) is usually very willing with an offender who hasn't come to their attention before to offer an out of court settlement, which usually covers the fares you didn't pay, and an administration charge, which sometimes is as low as £50, but may be higher if they have to do a lot of investigation.

It goes without saying that you absolutely must ensure you buy the correct ticket in future, and in particular buy it before you board your train as buying an online ticket once on board is not allowed, and inspectors will pick those cases up.

I am just praying to God I don’t have to pay much for the incident. Hope for the best.

Thank you for your wise suggestion.

 

[Gloster]

It is the standard receipt. Nothing is mentioned here about what was the conversation between us at station.

Are you sure or have you had one before?

 

[MAC0168]

Here I am attaching the receipt.
This is my first time.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

GTR will write to you in the next few weeks saying that they have received a report and asking for your version of events before they decide how to proceed. The lketter will use quite threatening language. It is important that you reply to this letter.

Although we cannot guarantee it, GTR almost always offer a settlement which, if you pay it, will mean they won't prosecute you. When it arrives, post a copy of their letter in this thread along with yoiur dradft reply and forum members will proof read it for you.

 

[Haywain]

so long as the gateline was in use then that will prove that you didn't join the train there.

The gatelines at Luton Airport Parkway are very, very rarely left open.

 

[MAC0168]

I received a witness receipt from Thameslink on middle of august 2024 and still did not receive any letter.

What should I do in this context?

 

[SuspectUsual]

Train companies have up to six months to get in touch - normally its nothing like this long though, typically a few weeks.

There's nothing you can do until you get their letter, other than make sure you're absolutely clear in your own mind what exactly happened - if it helps, or you're worried about forgetting details, write it all down.

If you get in touch with the train company before they've written to you they almost certainly won't be able to match your letter to anything on their system

 

[Hadders]

As long as you gave your correct address to the inspector when you are stopped then you don't need to do anything at this stage.