TFL Criminal Charge

[Hageskj]

Just wanted some advice and help on my situation. On a night out my phone was dead so I followed someone through the barrier at the exit and got caught doing it. I happily gave in and told the guy my information and that a fine would come my way. I thought no worries, its £50 if I pay it off when it arrives. When a letter does arrive it states that they are working on my case and to give more details and tell them what happened. I did so and then received another letter in the post today (no letter or email was given to me about just paying it off). It says they are charging me with a criminal offence for attempting to leave the station in a non valid way. What happens from here? Do I plead guilty and will end up paying a large fine? It is stated online I will be given a criminal record as well? Is that going to happen and is it the sort of criminal record that would stop me getting good jobs? To be clear I am okay with playing the large fine it was my fault but I need some more information about what is going to happen. I have also heard you can settle these things out of court but is that an option for me?

Edit - I said in my initial response to TFL that "I will not deny not paying for a ticket but my phone was dead so I was unable to tap through. I am happy to pay the fine for not having a valid ticket". I agree the wording "not having a valid ticket" is poor but I could I use the dead phone to my defence?

All help appreciated.

 

[Gloster]

Please post all the paperwork that you have received in this thread. Please obscure your name, address and any other identifying details, such as reference numbers.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

TfL take matters like this very seriously and they often prosecute, which is what they are doing to you. Unlike their National Rail counterparts, TfL don't offer out of court settlements although very occasionally they do give a final warning instead of prosecuting. Whether or not they offer a warning depends on the response you send to their initial Verification Letter where they ask you to confirm or deny the offence. Unfortunately despite your reply to their Verification Letter they've still decided to prosecute you.

What you need to decide now is whether you are going to plead guilty or not guilty.

If you plead not guilty then the court will send you a trial date where you will have to go to court and argue your case. Based on what you've told us it's highly likely that you would be found guilty by the court. However harsh it seems following someone through the barrier in the way you say you did is a criminal offence.

If you plead guilty then you can decide whether or not you want to attend court in person. If you choose to attend then you can present any mitigation to the Magistrates in person. Do note that this won't change whether you are guilty or not, you'll have already pleaded guilty. The purpose of giving mitigation is to try and persuade the Magistrates to inpose a lower level of punishment. Alternatively, you can plead guilty and write your mitigation on the forms you have been sent and the Magistrates will take it into account when deciding the punishment. You won't have to go to court in person, the court will write to you with details of the fine you will have to pay.

If you are found guilty (either because you plead guilty or are found guilty at a trail having pleaded not guilty) then you will have to pay:

- A fine based on your income (normally reduced by a third if you plead guilty at the earliest opportunity)
- A surcharge of 40% of the value of the fine
- A contribution towards TfL's costs (the paperwork says TfL are going to ask for £250)
- Compensation for the fares avoided (TfL aren't asking for anything to be paid as you're not being charged with fare evasion)

If you are found guilty then this is a criminal conviction. A TfL Bylaws conviction (which is what you're being charged with) isn't normally recorded on the Police National Computer and won't normally appear on Basic DBS checks although we always advise people to be honest when asked if they have a conviction.

You have until 22nd October to return your plea to the court - you've got plenty of time to do this but it is very important to make sure you do this before the deadline.

Here's a link to TfL's Revenue Enforcement & Prosecutions Policy which you might find worth reading:

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/revenue-enforcement-and-prosecutions-policy.pdf

 

[furlong]

You say this happened at your exit. Where and how did you ENTER the system? (Farringdon has barriers of course.) Did you have any ticket at all? Was this the only journey you made that day?

 

[Haywain]

You say this happened at your exit. Where and how did you ENTER the system? (Farringdon has barriers of course.) Did you have any ticket at all? Was this the only journey you made that day?

None of which matters. We have seen on numerous occasions that TfL prosecute for failing to use the barriers in the correct manner.

 

[furlong]

None of which matters.

That depends on the answers. There might be some useful mitigation the OP doesn't realise (we do see cases like that here) - or the situation might be worse than revealed so far (such that they need to consider admitting that now so that they can't be prosecuted separately for another offence later).

 

[Haywain]

Farringdon has barriers of course.

Also, this depends on where the journey started - there are no barriers between lines within the station.

 

[Hageskj]

Welcome to the forum!

TfL take matters like this very seriously and they often prosecute, which is what they are doing to you. Unlike their National Rail counterparts, TfL don't offer out of court settlements although very occasionally they do give a final warning instead of prosecuting. Whether or not they offer a warning depends on the response you send to their initial Verification Letter where they ask you to confirm or deny the offence. Unfortunately despite your reply to their Verification Letter they've still decided to prosecute you.

What you need to decide now is whether you are going to plead guilty or not guilty.

If you plead not guilty then the court will send you a trial date where you will have to go to court and argue your case. Based on what you've told us it's highly likely that you would be found guilty by the court. However harsh it seems following someone through the barrier in the way you say you did is a criminal offence.

If you plead guilty then you can decide whether or not you want to attend court in person. If you choose to attend then you can present any mitigation to the Magistrates in person. Do note that this won't change whether you are guilty or not, you'll have already pleaded guilty. The purpose of giving mitigation is to try and persuade the Magistrates to inpose a lower level of punishment. Alternatively, you can plead guilty and write your mitigation on the forms you have been sent and the Magistrates will take it into account when deciding the punishment. You won't have to go to court in person, the court will write to you with details of the fine you will have to pay.

If you are found guilty (either because you plead guilty or are found guilty at a trail having pleaded not guilty) then you will have to pay:

- A fine based on your income (normally reduced by a third if you plead guilty at the earliest opportunity)
- A surcharge of 40% of the value of the fine
- A contribution towards TfL's costs (the paperwork says TfL are going to ask for £250)
- Compensation for the fares avoided (TfL aren't asking for anything to be paid as you're not being charged with fare evasion)

If you are found guilty then this is a criminal conviction. A TfL Bylaws conviction (which is what you're being charged with) isn't normally recorded on the Police National Computer and won't normally appear on Basic DBS checks although we always advise people to be honest when asked if they have a conviction.

You have until 22nd October to return your plea to the court - you've got plenty of time to do this but it is very important to make sure you do this before the deadline.

Here's a link to TfL's Revenue Enforcement & Prosecutions Policy which you might find worth reading:

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/revenue-enforcement-and-prosecutions-policy.pdf

Thank you for all this information.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Oct 2024 ==

You say this happened at your exit. Where and how did you ENTER the system? (Farringdon has barriers of course.) Did you have any ticket at all? Was this the only journey you made that day?

I entered at Sutton with my card on my phone and took the Thameslink to get all the way to Farringdon and then got the tube from there. I had gone to work that day so I had made a journey from Cheam to Willesden junction and back.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Oct 2024 ==

That depends on the answers. There might be some useful mitigation the OP doesn't realise (we do see cases like that here) - or the situation might be worse than revealed so far (such that they need to consider admitting that now so that they can't be prosecuted separately for another offence later).

What further offences could I get?

 

[John R]

Thank you for all this information.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Oct 2024 ==


I entered at Sutton with my card on my phone and took the Thameslink to get all the way to Farringdon and then got the tube from there. I had gone to work that day so I had made a journey from Cheam to Willesden junction and back.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Oct 2024 ==


What further offences could I get?

Out of interest, did you get charged a maximum fare on your card for the incomplete journey?

 

[Haywain]

What further offences could I get?

None. TfL have you bang to rights on one offence and won't be putting any effort into finding anything else. It's just not their style.

 

[some bloke]

There might be some useful mitigation

Yes - as requests for help on this forum are about unresolved cases, we can't easily exclude the possibility that various types of explanation have succeeded in getting a warning from TfL rather than prosecution. (Statistics on numbers of warnings won't necessarily tell us this either.)

When a letter does arrive it states that they are working on my case and to give more details and tell them what happened. I did so and then received another letter in the post today

If you post your letter here with identifying details removed, people may be able to suggest ways to put your case better.

I said in my initial response to TFL that "I will not deny not paying for a ticket but my phone was dead so I was unable to tap through. I am happy to pay the fine for not having a valid ticket". I agree the wording "not having a valid ticket" is poor but I could I use the dead phone to my defence?

If you were charged a maximum fare, you did pay for a ticket.

How much did you end up paying for the whole journey, compared to the normal price?

How much did you pay in total that day? Was it more than a daily cap would have been if the phone had been working?

 

[island]

If you post your letter here with identifying details removed, people may be able to suggest ways to put your case better.

The letter has already been posted.

If you were charged a maximum fare, you did pay for a ticket.

How much did you end up paying for the whole journey, compared to the normal price?

How much did you pay in total that day? Was it more than a daily cap would have been if the phone had been working?

The OP is being charged with passing through a ticket barrier otherwise than in the proper manner. The status of their ticket, how much they paid, etc. is irrelevant.

 

[some bloke]

The letter has already been posted.

@Hageskj , what I mean in suggesting you post on here "your letter" is the letter you sent, so that people can see what might be improved.

The OP is being charged with passing through a ticket barrier otherwise than in the proper manner. The status of their ticket, how much they paid, etc. is irrelevant.

Those kinds of things may be relevant to arguments that a warning is appropriate.

 

[Fermiboson]

Legally TfL is undoubtedly in the right but should OP already have been charged for a ticket then TfL is essentially prosecuting someone when they have suffered no financial loss (indeed, financial gain). Regardless of this being usual practice this is the kind of thing people get on Northern all the time for, so there is a PR factor in this and I presume TfL recognise this. I don’t see why it wouldn’t be worth a try, but of course don’t expect it to work. If it does please do tell us - positive data such as this is very useful in refining the advice we give to other people.