Forged railcard - international student

Hi. I'm a bit ashamed because, of course, I did something stupid and I got caught. I was travelling from Falmer to Brighton (it's about 3 stops, and the ticket costs no more than £3). When I wanted to leave the station, I was stopped and asked for a Railcard. I knew mine had expired a while ago (I used a 26–30 Railcard, and I'm still eligible because I'm 29), but money has been a bit tight and I just didn't buy a new one because I don't really use the train that much.

A while ago, I stupidly took a screenshot of my previous one and changed the expiry year. So instead of just admitting that I didn't have a valid one, I showed that screenshot. They scanned it, and it showed the real expiry date. They took a picture of the ticket and the forged Railcard.

They asked for my details, taking my name from my expired Railcard, but my name is foreign, so I guess that confused them and they wrote it down incorrectly (I have two surnames and they wrote down my name just with the second one). I only realised this later when I looked at the paper slip they gave me. Can they identify me and get back to me and pursue a case against me if they don't have my correct details?

They also asked me something about whether I understood that anything I said could be held against me in court, and I was genuinely confused. I didn't understand what they were referring to because they didn't really explain it to me beyond just rereading the phrase, and it was kind of legal jargon. The lady ended up marking that I did not understand.

I don't really know what to do. I'm actually leaving the country soon, but I don't want to have any trouble of course, in case I want to come back to the UK in the future.

I'd really appreciate your help. I'm sorry again!!

Hello and welcome to the forum,

The 'good' news is that Govia Thameslink Railway / Greater Thameslink Railway (They've just changed their name - but we just call them GTR), which in turn is the company which runs Southern, who run trains out of Brighton towards Falmer and Lewes are fairly easy to settle out of court with for fairly low prices and don't very often prosecute people. However, I think this counts as fraud. I don't think the railway tend to prosecute for fraud very often - I suspect this will just be counted as fare evasion.

Do you know who it was that stopped you? Presumably not the On Board Supervisor on the train? Was it someone on the gateline, or one of those people by the temporary barriers with black jackets which say something on the back like 'revenue protection' (you can tell I was in a rush last time at Brighton so can't remember the exact wording on their uniform!) Was it that when you went to go through the barrier, they saw it was a railcard ticket and asked for the supporting railcard? I suspect maybe you were being manually scanned through the wide aisle gate and were asked for your railcard then?

Did they ask for your address and note this down? Presumably they wanted a UK address? Is this somewhere you actually 'live' or just e.g. a hotel or family member's house where you've being staying in the short term? Once you have left the UK, will there still be someone there who would recieve post?

I suspect the phrase you were told is what I've copied below. I admit I had to Google this but it's what the police say when arresting somebody and I suspect it's the same phrase used by revenue inspectors when interviewing people under caution. Hopefully another forum member can correct me if I'm wrong here:
"You do not have to say anything. But, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence."
Basically, if you don't say something now, but then try to use that as a defence in court, then that might make it easier for them to prove you guilty, if that makes sense?

How soon is it when you are leaving the UK - and will you be back soon - or leaving for a number of months at least? Just to note that forum members are legally forbidden from offering immigration advice. If you are sent to court and prosecuted, then this will result in a criminal record. Out of court settlements do not result in criminal records. To avoid being prosecuted it is important that you recieve correspondence from GTR, but I don't know how they would follow up for a non-UK resident.

Sorry for asking sooooo many questions and hope some of the above is helpful

EDIT: oh and would you be able to upload the paperwork you were given by the inspector at Brighton with personal details redacted? Thanks

sourdough14 said:

Hi. I'm a bit ashamed because, of course, I did something stupid and I got caught. I was travelling from Falmer to Brighton (it's about 3 stops, and the ticket costs no more than £3). When I wanted to leave the station, I was stopped and asked for a Railcard. I knew mine had expired a while ago (I used a 26–30 Railcard, and I'm still eligible because I'm 29), but money has been a bit tight and I just didn't buy a new one because I don't really use the train that much.

A while ago, I stupidly took a screenshot of my previous one and changed the expiry year. So instead of just admitting that I didn't have a valid one, I showed that screenshot. They scanned it, and it showed the real expiry date. They took a picture of the ticket and the forged Railcard.

They asked for my details, taking my name from my expired Railcard, but my name is foreign, so I guess that confused them and they wrote it down incorrectly (I have two surnames and they wrote down my name just with the second one). I only realised this later when I looked at the paper slip they gave me. Can they identify me and get back to me and pursue a case against me if they don't have my correct details?

They also asked me something about whether I understood that anything I said could be held against me in court, and I was genuinely confused. I didn't understand what they were referring to because they didn't really explain it to me beyond just rereading the phrase, and it was kind of legal jargon. The lady ended up marking that I did not understand.

I don't really know what to do. I'm actually leaving the country soon, but I don't want to have any trouble of course, in case I want to come back to the UK in the future.

I'd really appreciate your help. I'm sorry again!!

Click to expand...

Forging a railcard is arguably more serious than just not buying a ticket because it shows pre meditated intentions to avoid paying a fare. Both things are criminal offences in England which is why you were ‘ read your rights’ when stopped. Though of course you were not arrested.

So it’s a really foolish way to save £35 cost of a railcard but you’re not the first on here in the last week to have come for advice on here about this.

The railway company will usually write to you about this but it could be some weeks before they do. For example 6 to 8 weeks or longer. If they don’t hear back from you it will automatically escalate to prosecution This is best avoided imho as it will result in a formal debt to a court. That might get picked up if re entering the uk at a future date and cause you problems disproportionate to resolving things now.

They can probably trace you if they wanted to, especially if they scanned railcard or ticket.

When are you expecting to leave the uk?

If you have not heard from them by about a week before I suggest you write to them with your permanent address abroad and see what they do. It’s likely that they would then realise it’s more complicated to take this to court and instead probably ask you for a sum of money to cover the fare (s) wrongly discounted by the railcard. That would be an out of court settlement which removes the prospect of court prosecution aiui.

We can help you with a simple clear letter for that.

You could also go to your university or student union advice service about this for their help and confidential before leaving the uk. You could presumably do this in the next few days if you want. It would not matter that term has ended I’m sure.

SECR 65 said:

Hello and welcome to the forum,

The 'good' news is that Govia Thameslink Railway / Greater Thameslink Railway (They've just changed their name - but we just call them GTR), which in turn is the company which runs Southern, who run trains out of Brighton towards Falmer and Lewes are fairly easy to settle out of court with for fairly low prices and don't very often prosecute people. However, I think this counts as fraud. I don't think the railway tend to prosecute for fraud very often - I suspect this will just be counted as fare evasion.

Do you know who it was that stopped you? Presumably not the On Board Supervisor on the train? Was it someone on the gateline, or one of those people by the temporary barriers with black jackets which say something on the back like 'revenue protection' (you can tell I was in a rush last time at Brighton so can't remember the exact wording on their uniform!) Was it that when you went to go through the barrier, they saw it was a railcard ticket and asked for the supporting railcard? I suspect maybe you were being manually scanned through the wide aisle gate and were asked for your railcard then?

Did they ask for your address and note this down? Presumably they wanted a UK address? Is this somewhere you actually 'live' or just e.g. a hotel or family member's house where you've being staying in the short term? Once you have left the UK, will there still be someone there who would recieve post?

I suspect the phrase you were told is what I've copied below. I admit I had to Google this but it's what the police say when arresting somebody and I suspect it's the same phrase used by revenue inspectors when interviewing people under caution. Hopefully another forum member can correct me if I'm wrong here:
"You do not have to say anything. But, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence."
Basically, if you don't say something now, but then try to use that as a defence in court, then that might make it easier for them to prove you guilty, if that makes sense?

How soon is it when you are leaving the UK - and will you be back soon - or leaving for a number of months at least? Just to note that forum members are legally forbidden from offering immigration advice. If you are sent to court and prosecuted, then this will result in a criminal record. Out of court settlements do not result in criminal records. To avoid being prosecuted it is important that you recieve correspondence from GTR, but I don't know how they would follow up for a non-UK resident.

Sorry for asking sooooo many questions and hope some of the above is helpful

EDIT: oh and would you be able to upload the paperwork you were given by the inspector at Brighton with personal details redacted? Thanks

Click to expand...

Thanks for your kind reply!! I truly appreciate it.
Yes, I was stopped when exiting the station barriers. The ticket wouldn't let me out, and the screen said "seek assistance", so I went directly to them (black jackets, it is definitely what you describe). Apparently it's something they're doing at Brighton station, as I have a friend that went through the same last week.

I gave my current address here in the UK, I'll be leaving in September (so I still have a couple of months to actually receive the letter). After that, I'll have someone I know living in this address just until January. I wouldn't be back in the UK for at least a year, as part of the conditions of my scholarship. After that, I'd probably be back just to visit as a tourist.

Thank you for the clarification on the phrase! Honestly I find very confusing that they don't explain what is going on right away.

Thanks again, really appreciate it.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Jul 2026 ==

WesternLancer said:

Forging a railcard is arguably more serious than just not buying a ticket because it shows pre meditated intentions to avoid paying a fare. Both things are criminal offences in England which is why you were ‘ read your rights’ when stopped. Though of course you were not arrested.

So it’s a really foolish way to save £35 cost of a railcard but you’re not the first on here in the last week to have come for advice on here about this.

The railway company will usually write to you about this but it could be some weeks before they do. For example 6 to 8 weeks or longer. If they don’t hear back from you it will automatically escalate to prosecution This is best avoided imho as it will result in a formal debt to a court. That might get picked up if re entering the uk at a future date and cause you problems disproportionate to resolving things now.

They can probably trace you if they wanted to, especially if they scanned railcard or ticket.

When are you expecting to leave the uk?

If you have not heard from them by about a week before I suggest you write to them with your permanent address abroad and see what they do. It’s likely that they would then realise it’s more complicated to take this to court and instead probably ask you for a sum of money to cover the fare (s) wrongly discounted by the railcard. That would be an out of court settlement which removes the prospect of court prosecution aiui.

We can help you with a simple clear letter for that.

You could also go to your university or student union advice service about this for their help and confidential before leaving the uk. You could presumably do this in the next few days if you want. It would not matter that term has ended I’m sure.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your answer! I understand better now. I'm leaving the UK in September, so I think I still have time to receive the letter.

The difference of the sum of the 26-30 Railcard and the full fare ticket is like £1 I feel so stupid. I hope they just choose to that out of court settlement as you say.

I have to mention that the lady told me to go to the link that appears on the slip and upload evidence of a valid Railcard in the next 14 days. I don't know if that was a hint to buy it now and upload it, but I guess they could totally see that I bought it after I was stopped.

sourdough14 said:

Thanks for your kind reply!! I truly appreciate it.
Yes, I was stopped when exiting the station barriers. The ticket wouldn't let me out, and the screen said "seek assistance", so I went directly to them (black jackets, it is definitely what you describe). Apparently it's something they're doing at Brighton station, as I have a friend that went through the same last week.

Click to expand...

Yes, for the past year or two there have been revenue protection people at Brighton almost every day I think (I only use the station every couple of months). Basically I think they have this issue of people short faring from the West to East Coastway (i.e. journey Hove-Lewes, but only buy a Hove-Brighton ticket). Hence, they make everyone go out of the barriers and back in. It's been annoying some people I think due to time added to connections - certainly a family member of mine has become frustrated!

sourdough14 said:

I gave my current address here in the UK, I'll be leaving in September (so I still have a couple of months to actually receive the letter). After that, I'll have someone I know living in this address just until January.

Click to expand...

That's good that they'll be able to monitor post then. Make sure they are expecting possible correspondence from GTR as it is vital you recieve and reply to it.

sourdough14 said:

I wouldn't be back in the UK for at least a year, as part of the conditions of my scholarship. After that, I'd probably be back just to visit as a tourist.

Thank you for the clarification on the phrase! Honestly I find very confusing that they don't explain what is going on right away.

Click to expand...

Yes, it's a bit odd the way they just rapidly read through the script which is really convoluted and confusing without actually explaining.

sourdough14 said:

Thanks for your answer! I understand better now. I'm leaving the UK in September, so I think I still have time to receive the letter.

Click to expand...

It often takes 4-5 months for the letter to arrive. If GTR wanted to prosecute you, they would have up to 6 months to do this. There is always the small possibility that they run out of time and send you straight to court when the 6 months is almost up. Hopefully this won't happen, and can still be avoided and a settlement achieved, even if it does go to a Single Justice Proceedure Notice (SJPN).

sourdough14 said:

The difference of the sum of the 26-30 Railcard and the full fare ticket is like £1 I feel so stupid. I hope they just choose to that out of court settlement as you say.

Click to expand...

Yes - it is quite a foolish offence to commit and a serious one at that too. It's important you never evade fares again as second time round they are much less likely to settle.

sourdough14 said:

I have to mention that the lady told me to go to the link that appears on the slip and upload evidence of a valid Railcard in the next 14 days. I don't know if that was a hint to buy it now and upload it, but I guess they could totally see that I bought it after I was stopped.

Click to expand...

Buying a new railcard is a good way to convince GTR that you want to turn things around, but this might not make sense to you seeing as you're about to leave the UK. However, buying a new railcard now is no good - this just looks like you're trying to decieve them. It would have had to have been valid at the time you were stopped. So don't upload anything to this link and wait for them to get in touch.

SECR 65 said:

That's good that they'll be able to monitor post then. Make sure they are expecting possible correspondence from GTR as it is vital you recieve and reply to it.

Click to expand...

@sourdough14 just to be clear, I wouldn't expect this letter to arrive in an envelope with GTR's name visible on the outside, so if you're relying on a friend checking your post you'll probably have to be prepared for them to open anything and everything that arrives for you

SuspectUsual said:

@sourdough14 just to be clear, I wouldn't expect this letter to arrive in an envelope with GTR's name visible on the outside, so if you're relying on a friend checking your post you'll probably have to be prepared for them to open anything and everything that arrives for you

Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll definitely keep that in mind!

If you're intending to come back to the UK in future, even as a tourist, it's very much in your interest to get this wrapped up before you move away. While the forum does not normally recommend pro-actively contacting TOC's, in your case it may be wise when it's getting close to your departure date. You do not want the first you hear about this to be an outstanding warrant for your arrest due to non-payment of court fines when you get to immigration in the future.

sourdough14 said:

Thanks for your kind reply!! I truly appreciate it.
Yes, I was stopped when exiting the station barriers. The ticket wouldn't let me out, and the screen said "seek assistance", so I went directly to them (black jackets, it is definitely what you describe). Apparently it's something they're doing at Brighton station, as I have a friend that went through the same last week.

I gave my current address here in the UK, I'll be leaving in September (so I still have a couple of months to actually receive the letter). After that, I'll have someone I know living in this address just until January. I wouldn't be back in the UK for at least a year, as part of the conditions of my scholarship. After that, I'd probably be back just to visit as a tourist.

Thank you for the clarification on the phrase! Honestly I find very confusing that they don't explain what is going on right away.

Thanks again, really appreciate it.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Jul 2026 ==


Thanks for your answer! I understand better now. I'm leaving the UK in September, so I think I still have time to receive the letter.

The difference of the sum of the 26-30 Railcard and the full fare ticket is like £1 I feel so stupid. I hope they just choose to that out of court settlement as you say.

I have to mention that the lady told me to go to the link that appears on the slip and upload evidence of a valid Railcard in the next 14 days. I don't know if that was a hint to buy it now and upload it, but I guess they could totally see that I bought it after I was stopped.

Click to expand...

Thanks for uploading the copy of the slip which was helpful to see. Along with your answers to various questions that people have asked - again most helpful

Just to build on the good advice given above by people this is what I think you should do from this point.

1) Watch you post / email and spam carefully going forwards. If you receive anything before you leave the UK head back here straight away to get advice on how best to respond to it.

2) If you have not heard from GTR by about 10 days to 2 weeks before you leave the UK you should write to GTR to inform them of your change of address giving your overseas address and your e-mail - a simple letter advising them of this (I have put an amended template letter below along the sort of lines I think you should send)

3) When you leave the UK get your friend in the accommodation keep monitoring post for you as long as they can until January - you will need to rely on them to open it, scan it and send you copies by e-mail of what you get, or WhatsApp (not a bad idea in relation to post from other organisations not just GTR, anyway). This covers you if GTR fail to act on your change of address letter.

By telling them you are moving overseas I rather suspect that this increases the chances of them getting the matter settled with you rather than them opting for court action on the basis that they might assume someone who now lives abroad is very unlikely to turn up in relation to a court threat over a matter like this.

4) If you think you are going to get the use from it between now and when you leave the UK, buy a new genuine railcard now (that does show you have learned a lesson at least and tried to put things right after all) - or alternatively make sure you buy full adult fares between now and you leaving the UK - incidentally it's a bit late now but full time students of any age are entitled to buy a 16-25 Railcard even if over the age of 25, but I note you can still have a 26-30 Railcard if that makes sense for you to have to use over the summer.

Sorting all this out will be a lot less hassle and cost to do now than if it all escalated without you knowing and at some future point you come back through a UK airport and it flags that you have a court debt to pay because you were taken to court about this in your absence and found guilty without you knowing it - that's not what you want to be sorting out at a border force check where they might start looking into all sorts of things best avoided.

Here's a template of a letter / e-mail (I would use both methods to send it to be sure they get it esp if they have changed this e-mail address due to them changing their name recently) you could send to GTR a couple of weeks before you move back overseas.

------------------------

Prosecutions Department,
Thameslink Southern Great Northern Railway,
Eastside Offices,
Kings Cross Railway Station,
London
N1C 9AX.


Here is an e-mail address for them that might be of help to you to inform them of your new postal address
email: gtr.prosecutions@gtrailway.com
GTR will only accept change of address info by e-mail


Date:


Dear Sir/ Madam

Reference number (insert this from receipt slip you have)

I was stopped on x date at y location and questioned about the validity of my railcard and train ticket.

I was advised that I would be contacted in writing about this in due course.

At the time of the incident I was an international student living in the UK, and I gave my UK address. My studies have now ended and I am returning to my permanent address in xx country on yy date. I have no immediate plans to return to the UK.

My UK address was (the address given when questioned): [insert the address you gave them in UK/Brighton]

My new address as of x date is: [enter your permanent address overseas eg family address]

My e-mail address is:

In addition I notice that my name was not recorded correctly when my details were taken. My correct name is: XXX

Please can any letters be sent to my new address, or sent to me by e-mail given the slow speed of international post so that I can respond to them as required.

Yours faithfully


Print your name and sign the letter

Keep a copy of what you send

As a separate point, in case you receive post from anyone not only GTR, you may want to look at https://www.royalmail.com/redirection and consider if you want to have any post addressed to you redirected to your home overseas.

dosxuk said:

If you're intending to come back to the UK in future, even as a tourist, it's very much in your interest to get this wrapped up before you move away. While the forum does not normally recommend pro-actively contacting TOC's, in your case it may be wise when it's getting close to your departure date. You do not want the first you hear about this to be an outstanding warrant for your arrest due to non-payment of court fines when you get to immigration in the future.

Click to expand...

Or a denied ETA – government policy is anyone with any conviction at all is barred from getting an ETA for 12 months.