South Western Railway prosecution help

Hi everyone,


I’m looking for advice from anyone familiar with SWR prosecutions.


I’ve recently received a letter from South Western Railway’s Prosecutions Department concerning an incident earlier this year. The letter says that a person using my name and address was questioned by a member of railway staff after allegedly travelling without having previously paid the correct fare with intent to avoid payment.


The letter says SWR is currently considering whether legal proceedings are appropriate and has invited me to provide any mitigating factors or explanations within 21 days. It also specifically says that the letter is not a request for payment.


I want to give the full circumstances because I don’t want people giving me advice based on a misleading or incomplete version of events.


I live in the southwest London area and regularly travel towards Guildford. On the incident in question, I bought a Woking–Guildford ticket even though I was travelling from further away, because the Woking–Guildford ticket was cheaper than the correct fare.


This was not an accidental mistake. I knew the ticket did not cover my actual journey and bought it because I wanted to pay less.


Unfortunately, I have done similar things on previous occasions. I have used cheaper tickets covering only part of my actual journey, including tickets involving Woking or Clapham as the supposed starting point, while actually travelling from further away. I estimate I have done this around 6 or 7 times.


On the particular journey that SWR is now contacting me about, I was questioned by a member of staff. At the time, I told the member of staff that I had bought the wrong ticket and gave an explanation about my intended journey which was not completely truthful.


I now understand that what I was doing was wrong and I regret it. I’m particularly concerned because the wording of SWR’s letter refers to intent to avoid payment, which I accept may be difficult for me to dispute given the circumstances.


I’m a university student with no current income and around £1,800 in savings. I’m therefore very worried about being prosecuted and potentially being unable to afford a large settlement, costs or fine. I cannot realistically afford a solicitor charging a large private fee.


I’m not trying to pretend that this was an innocent mistake. I want to take responsibility and resolve the matter if possible, but I don’t want to make things worse by sending SWR a badly worded response or making admissions without understanding the consequences.


I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who has dealt with SWR or similar railway prosecutions:

1. How serious does this situation sound given that the incorrect ticket was deliberate?
2. Does the fact that there were several previous occasions materially change the situation?
3. Should I seek legal advice before responding to SWR, even if I have very limited finances?
4. Is an out-of-court settlement still potentially possible in a case involving deliberate under-ticketing?
5. If SWR offers a settlement, are instalments sometimes available for students with no income?
6. Does my financial situation have any relevance to a potential settlement or, if it reached court, any fine?
7. Is it sensible to apologise and offer to pay the correct fares/costs, or could a detailed admission make things worse?
8. Is there anything I should absolutely avoid putting in my response?

I have deliberately left out my name, address, exact date and SWR reference number for privacy.

How did you get through the barriers at your start station?

ojajk said:

Hi everyone,


I’m looking for advice from anyone familiar with SWR prosecutions.


I’ve recently received a letter from South Western Railway’s Prosecutions Department concerning an incident earlier this year. The letter says that a person using my name and address was questioned by a member of railway staff after allegedly travelling without having previously paid the correct fare with intent to avoid payment.


The letter says SWR is currently considering whether legal proceedings are appropriate and has invited me to provide any mitigating factors or explanations within 21 days. It also specifically says that the letter is not a request for payment.


I want to give the full circumstances because I don’t want people giving me advice based on a misleading or incomplete version of events.


I live in the southwest London area and regularly travel towards Guildford. On the incident in question, I bought a Woking–Guildford ticket even though I was travelling from further away, because the Woking–Guildford ticket was cheaper than the correct fare.


This was not an accidental mistake. I knew the ticket did not cover my actual journey and bought it because I wanted to pay less.


Unfortunately, I have done similar things on previous occasions. I have used cheaper tickets covering only part of my actual journey, including tickets involving Woking or Clapham as the supposed starting point, while actually travelling from further away. I estimate I have done this around 6 or 7 times.


On the particular journey that SWR is now contacting me about, I was questioned by a member of staff. At the time, I told the member of staff that I had bought the wrong ticket and gave an explanation about my intended journey which was not completely truthful.


I now understand that what I was doing was wrong and I regret it. I’m particularly concerned because the wording of SWR’s letter refers to intent to avoid payment, which I accept may be difficult for me to dispute given the circumstances.


I’m a university student with no current income and around £1,800 in savings. I’m therefore very worried about being prosecuted and potentially being unable to afford a large settlement, costs or fine. I cannot realistically afford a solicitor charging a large private fee.


I’m not trying to pretend that this was an innocent mistake. I want to take responsibility and resolve the matter if possible, but I don’t want to make things worse by sending SWR a badly worded response or making admissions without understanding the consequences.


I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who has dealt with SWR or similar railway prosecutions:

1. How serious does this situation sound given that the incorrect ticket was deliberate?
2. Does the fact that there were several previous occasions materially change the situation?
3. Should I seek legal advice before responding to SWR, even if I have very limited finances?
4. Is an out-of-court settlement still potentially possible in a case involving deliberate under-ticketing?
5. If SWR offers a settlement, are instalments sometimes available for students with no income?
6. Does my financial situation have any relevance to a potential settlement or, if it reached court, any fine?
7. Is it sensible to apologise and offer to pay the correct fares/costs, or could a detailed admission make things worse?
8. Is there anything I should absolutely avoid putting in my response?

I have deliberately left out my name, address, exact date and SWR reference number for privacy.

Click to expand...

Welcome. When do you need to reply by?
Hopefully time to answer your clear list of questions and advise you on a plan of action.
Make a private list for yourself of all the fares you have evaded. Work out the total cost of that at the Anytime single fare. You will need that information as things progress.

ojajk said:

I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who has dealt with SWR or similar railway prosecutions:

1. How serious does this situation sound given that the incorrect ticket was deliberate?
2. Does the fact that there were several previous occasions materially change the situation?
3. Should I seek legal advice before responding to SWR, even if I have very limited finances?
4. Is an out-of-court settlement still potentially possible in a case involving deliberate under-ticketing?
5. If SWR offers a settlement, are instalments sometimes available for students with no income?
6. Does my financial situation have any relevance to a potential settlement or, if it reached court, any fine?
7. Is it sensible to apologise and offer to pay the correct fares/costs, or could a detailed admission make things worse?
8. Is there anything I should absolutely avoid putting in my response?

I have deliberately left out my name, address, exact date and SWR reference number for privacy.

Click to expand...

There will be better experts along shortly, but to give some initial response based on past cases:

Firstly, that it is SWR is good news as they tend to be open to settling out of court if you co-operate.

To turn to your individual questions:

1., Yes, it's serious - shouldn't be disastrous (but expensive).
2. Yes. They will probably still be open to a settlement, but will obviously cost more (if they are/ become aware).
3. There are specialist solicitors out there, but they will cost you in the region of £700 upwards so probably better to use the good and free advice on here!
4. Yes. But it will cost you the fares avoided (at full price plus admin fees - often £150-200).
5. Instalments are not normally offered.
6. No relevance to any settlement but would be taken into account in a court case. You need to consider how important it is to avoid a criminal record.
7. Be very careful not to inciminate yourself further. They have evidence for this one incident but they may search your purchase history (presumably you bought on-line) in which case they may wish to discuss those as well. But for the moment simply and only refer to this incident. Your reply should acknowledge the incident, apologise, state that you now recognise you were wrong, that you have learnt a lesson and that it will not be repeated. You should then ask if they would accept a settlement for the fare avoided + administrative costs.
8. See no.7 !

Finally, and importantly - put a draft of your reply on here for further advice!

Gloster said:

How did you get through the barriers at your start station?

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Both the stations near me don’t have barriers you can just walk in

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Aug 2026 ==

WesternLancer said:

Welcome. When do you need to reply by?
Hopefully time to answer your clear list of questions and advise you on a plan of action.
Make a private list for yourself of all the fares you have evaded. Work out the total cost of that at the Anytime single fare. You will need that information as things progress.

Click to expand...

I have until the 21 August 2026.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Aug 2026 ==

6Gman said:

There will be better experts along shortly, but to give some initial response based on past cases:

Firstly, that it is SWR is good news as they tend to be open to settling out of court if you co-operate.

To turn to your individual questions:

1., Yes, it's serious - shouldn't be disastrous (but expensive).
2. Yes. They will probably still be open to a settlement, but will obviously cost more (if they are/ become aware).
3. There are specialist solicitors out there, but they will cost you in the region of £700 upwards so probably better to use the good and free advice on here!
4. Yes. But it will cost you the fares avoided (at full price plus admin fees - often £150-200).
5. Instalments are not normally offered.
6. No relevance to any settlement but would be taken into account in a court case. You need to consider how important it is to avoid a criminal record.
7. Be very careful not to inciminate yourself further. They have evidence for this one incident but they may search your purchase history (presumably you bought on-line) in which case they may wish to discuss those as well. But for the moment simply and only refer to this incident. Your reply should acknowledge the incident, apologise, state that you now recognise you were wrong, that you have learnt a lesson and that it will not be repeated. You should then ask if they would accept a settlement for the fare avoided + administrative costs.
8. See no.7 !

Finally, and importantly - put a draft of your reply on here for further advice!

Click to expand...

Here’s a draft that I have so far, I’ve got until the 21st of August but it will be smarter to not post it last minute -

Dear Ms Gray,


I am writing in response to your letter dated 31 July 2026 regarding the incident referred to in your correspondence.


I acknowledge what happened and accept that I was in the wrong. I sincerely apologise for my actions and for the inconvenience and costs caused to South Western Railway.


I now understand the seriousness of what I did and recognise that I should have purchased the correct fare. I regret my decision and have learned from this experience. I can assure you that this will not happen again.


I would be grateful if South Western Railway would consider resolving this matter by way of an out-of-court settlement. I am willing to pay the fare avoided together with reasonable administrative costs in order to resolve the matter without the need for legal proceedings.


I am currently a university student with no current income and limited savings, so I would be grateful if my financial circumstances could be taken into consideration when determining any settlement amount or payment arrangements.


I apologise again for my actions and respectfully ask that you consider allowing me to resolve this matter without prosecution.


Yours sincerely,


Umar Bhatti

You should remove your name from the bottom of the draft that you have posted in #5, but replace it in the final letter that you send. Others will comment on the letter.

ojajk said:

Here’s a draft that I have so far, I’ve got until the 21st of August but it will be smarter to not post it last minute -

Dear Ms Gray,

Insert their reference number here

Click to expand...

ojajk said:

I am writing in response to your letter dated 31 July 2026 regarding the incident referred to in your correspondence.


I acknowledge what happened and accept that I was in the wrong. I sincerely apologise for my actions and for the inconvenience and costs caused to South Western Railway.


I now understand the seriousness of what I did and recognise that I should have purchased the correct fare. I regret my decision and have learned from this experience. I can assure you that this will not happen again.


I would be grateful if South Western Railway would consider resolving this matter by way of an out-of-court settlement. I am willing to pay the fare avoided together with reasonable your administrative costs in order to resolve the matter without the need for legal proceedings.


I am currently a university student with no current income and limited savings, so I would be grateful if my financial circumstances could be taken into consideration when determining any settlement amount or payment arrangements.


I apologise again for my actions and respectfully ask that you consider allowing me to resolve this matter without prosecution.


Yours sincerely,

Click to expand...

A pretty good first draft, but a few observations:

Insert their reference number.

Do not refer to "reasonable" administrative costs; they are not going to get into a discussion on the subject.

Not sure about your sentence regarding your financial circumstances as that is neither relevant to the case nor of any concern of theirs, but probably no harm in mentioning it. But leave it a day or so to let others comment.

Turning firstly to your specific questions - apols the auto numbering gets disrupted but I hope it is clear which answer is to which question

ojajk said:

1. How serious does this situation sound given that the incorrect ticket was deliberate?

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It's a serious matter because they are entitled to prosecute you in the criminal magistrates court for this if they wanted to. That said it is usually possible to seek and achieve an out of court settlement from what we see on the forum

ojajk said:

1. Does the fact that there were several previous occasions materially change the situation?

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We see SWR investigating past purchases and seeking the money owed for these fares as part of any settlement offer. Obviously repeated evasion isn't a good idea

ojajk said:

1. Should I seek legal advice before responding to SWR, even if I have very limited finances?

Click to expand...

It rather depends on how important avoiding court is (ie the consequences to you of a conviction in court and the criminal record that would result in) and if you have the funds to pay for such advice (probably circa £800) - given your financial situation I suspect it's OK to try to resolve it by your own efforts with advice form here and only if that does not work then think about paying for legal advice.

ojajk said:

1. Is an out-of-court settlement still potentially possible in a case involving deliberate under-ticketing?

Click to expand...

Yes, we see many such examples settled out of court here

ojajk said:

1. If SWR offers a settlement, are instalments sometimes available for students with no income?

Click to expand...

Not usually no. If you pay the correct fare each time you travel to start with that is a payment by installments

Having said this in the past we have seen SWR refer people to what I believe is a loan company so that they can borrow the money to pay the settlement demanded and then pay the loan back no doubt at high interest to the lender. It's probably better to see if you can bporrw money from trusted family or friends to pay any sum demanded.
If it went to court however (which of course is what you want to avoid) court fines can be paid in instalments

ojajk said:

1. Does my financial situation have any relevance to a potential settlement or, if it reached court, any fine?

Click to expand...

No - not really if out of court settlement - but yes, if it goes to court then you can submit an income statement to the court and the fine is related to your income - but you want to avoid court if you can. If it did end up in court (which would take some weeks before it happened) you can come back here for advice on what to expect, what paperwork to fill in about that etc

ojajk said:

1. Is it sensible to apologise and offer to pay the correct fares/costs, or could a detailed admission make things worse?

Click to expand...

You need to co-operate with them to achieve a settlement - that means answering their questions honestly but you don't need to tell them things they have not asked.

ojajk said:

1. Is there anything I should absolutely avoid putting in my response?

Click to expand...

I see you have drafted a reply - I'll have a look at it and I'm sure others will too

ojajk said:

I have deliberately left out my name, address, exact date and SWR reference number for privacy.

Click to expand...

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Aug 2026 ==


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Secondly - ref your draft as below - some suggested minor amends for you to consider - I hope they are clear below. I agree you should not leave your response to the last minute but you have a day or so to get this as best as it can be before you e-mail it to them

You need to be prepared for them to investigate your ticket purchase history and look for red flags that will show them probable short faring on other occasions and ask you about these (as you can see on other threads this often involves them sending you a list of suspicious ticket purchases and ask you to confirm if they were genuine journeys or more short faring etc) you will need to be ready to fill that in if it gets sent to you - but when you hear back from them you can ask for more advice here

Finally - you may want to edit your post above post #5 to remove your name (if you can't do this you can ask the mods to do it for you)

ojajk said:

Both the stations near me don’t have barriers you can just walk in

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Aug 2026 ==


I have until the 21 August 2026.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Aug 2026 ==



Here’s a draft that I have so far, I’ve got until the 21st of August but it will be smarter to not post it last minute -

Dear Ms Gray,


I am writing in response to your letter dated 31 July 2026 regarding the incident referred to in your correspondence.


I acknowledge what happened and accept that I was in the wrong. I sincerely apologise for my actions and for the inconvenience and costs caused to South Western Railway.


I now understand the seriousness of what I did and recognise that I should have purchased the correct fare. I regret my decision and have learned from this experience. I can assure you that this will not happen again.


I would be grateful if South Western Railway would consider resolving this matter by way of an out-of-court settlement. I am willing to pay the fare avoided together with reasonable administrative costs in order to resolve the matter without the need for legal proceedings.


I am currently a university student with no current income and limited savings, so I would be grateful if my financial circumstances could be taken into consideration when determining any settlement amount or payment arrangements.


I apologise again for my actions and respectfully ask that you consider allowing me to resolve this matter without prosecution.


Yours sincerely,

Click to expand...

Dear Ms Gray,

Your Reference:

I am writing in response to your letter dated 31 July 2026 regarding the incident referred to in your correspondence.

I acknowledge what happened and accept that I was in the wrong. This was a serious error of judgment on my part and I sincerely apologise for my actions and for the inconvenience and costs caused to South Western Railway.

I now understand the serious consequences of what I did and recognise that I should have purchased the correct fare for my travel. I regret my decision and have learned from this experience. I can assure you that this will not happen again.

I would be grateful if South Western Railway would consider resolving this matter by way of an out-of-court settlement. I am willing to pay the fare avoided together with your reasonable administrative costs in order to resolve the matter without the need for legal proceedings.

I am keen to co-operate and pay what I owe but I am currently a university student with no current income and limited savings, so I would be grateful if my financial circumstances could be taken into consideration when determining this matter. any settlement amount or payment arrangements.

I apologise again for my actions and respectfully ask that you consider allowing me to resolve this matter without prosecution.

Yours sincerely

Ok here’s my second draft thanks for the help so far guys -

Dear Ms Gray,


Reference: (I should probably keep this secret)


I am writing in response to your letter dated 31 July 2026 regarding the incident referred to in your correspondence.


I acknowledge what happened and accept that I was in the wrong. I sincerely apologise for my actions and for the inconvenience and costs caused to South Western Railway.


I now understand the seriousness of what I did and recognise that I should have purchased the correct fare for my travel. I regret my decision and have learned from this experience. I can assure you that this will not happen again.


I would be grateful if South Western Railway would consider resolving this matter by way of an out-of-court settlement. I am willing to pay the fare avoided together with your administrative costs in order to resolve the matter without the need for legal proceedings.


I apologise again for my actions and respectfully ask that you consider allowing me to resolve this matter without prosecution.


Yours sincerely,
My name

ojajk said:

Ok here’s my second draft thanks for the help so far guys -

Dear Ms Gray,


Reference: (I should probably keep this secret)


I am writing in response to your letter dated 31 July 2026 regarding the incident referred to in your correspondence.


I acknowledge what happened and accept that I was in the wrong. I sincerely apologise for my actions and for the inconvenience and costs caused to South Western Railway.


I now understand the seriousness of what I did and recognise that I should have purchased the correct fare for my travel. I regret my decision and have learned from this experience. I can assure you that this will not happen again.


I would be grateful if South Western Railway would consider resolving this matter by way of an out-of-court settlement. I am willing to pay the fare avoided together with your administrative costs in order to resolve the matter without the need for legal proceedings.


I apologise again for my actions and respectfully ask that you consider allowing me to resolve this matter without prosecution.


Yours sincerely,
My name

Click to expand...

This looks good to me. Other members may have refinements to suggest.

ojajk said:

Ok here’s my second draft thanks for the help so far guys -

Dear Ms Gray,


Reference: (I should probably keep this secret)


I am writing in response to your letter dated 31 July 2026 regarding the incident referred to in your correspondence.


I acknowledge what happened and accept that I was in the wrong. I sincerely apologise for my actions and for the inconvenience and costs caused to South Western Railway.


I now understand the seriousness of what I did and recognise that I should have purchased the correct fare for my travel. I regret my decision and have learned from this experience. I can assure you that this will not happen again.


I would be grateful if South Western Railway would consider resolving this matter by way of an out-of-court settlement. I am willing to pay the fare avoided together with your administrative costs in order to resolve the matter without the need for legal proceedings.


I apologise again for my actions and respectfully ask that you consider allowing me to resolve this matter without prosecution.


Yours sincerely,
My name

Click to expand...

Looking OK to me