Advice on possible prosecution

[diipchu]

Hi all, I was travelling from London Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport (Greater Anglia) about a month ago and thought I could get there via contactless.
When I got there, they told the people in front of me that you can't get in and that they have to be fined.
In my infinite wisdom, I decided to buy a ticket from the previous station and try to get in that way. That of course did not work. They got my details and told me I'm free to go. I sent an email to customer support and prosecutions department, but no response yet.

My questions are:
1. How long does it usually take to receive information about these things(I'm guessing a letter).
2. Given that this is a first time offence, is it likely to reach an out of court settlement?
3. My ideal outcome would be to pay no more than £500 and not have anything appear on my DBS check. Is that realistic?

I am aware of how big of an idiot I am, but apart from learning from this experience there isn't much I can do.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[mikeg]

It can take up to just over six months to get the letter. They have six months to lay papers before the courts from the date of the event. I believe AGA are usually ok with out of court settlements, but this is by no means guaranteed.
As for your third point, if you are offered a settlement and this is a one off, it is highly unlikely to be any more than a couple of hundred quid. But that assumes they offer a settlement. They don't have to. Also leave any amount up to them, don't specify an amount lest they smell blood so to speak.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

Thinking you can use contactless to Stansted Airport is quite a common problem, I’m surprised you weren’t simply given a Penalty Fare although that would depend on whether the staff members working at the time were authorised to issue them.

As for what will happen next Greater Anglia will send you a letter which will typically take a couple of months to arrive. It could be sooner but shouldn't take longer than six months. The letter will say that they have received a report, are considering prosecuting you and asking for your version of events. It is important that you engage with and reply to this letter. You might want to include the following in your reply:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the train company's administrative costs in dealing with the matter

Make sure your reply is short and concise, don't give a sob story - they've heard it all before. Greater Anglia are usually prepared to offer an administrative settlement (commonly known as an out of court settlement) for people who engage with the process and who haven't come to their attention before. There is no guarantee of this and they could decide to prosecute you in the magistrates court if they wanted to, although I very much doubt this will happen as long as you engage with them. There is no point in trying to contact Greater Anglia ahead of the letter arriving, they deal with lots of these sort of issues and it trying to reach out earlier could be confusing and counterproductive.

If you are offered a settlement the amount tend to be around £100 plus the outstanding fare. An out of court settlement might appear to be a fine, but it isn't and you won't have a criminal record as a result of accepting one.

Also worth noting that in addition to the ticket you purchased to try and exit the station you will also have an incomplete journey charge from Transport for London, assuming you touched in and didn’t touch out (the system might have auto-corrected it if you make a frequent journey with them). You could try and refund these but this would give you some additional explaining to do.

Feel free to post a copy of the letter once it arrives (with personal details redacted) along with your draft reply in this thread and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.

 

[diipchu]

It can take up to just over six months to get the letter. They have six months to lay papers before the courts from the date of the event. I believe AGA are usually ok with out of court settlements, but this is by no means guaranteed.
As for your third point, if you are offered a settlement and this is a one off, it is highly unlikely to be any more than a couple of hundred quid. But that assumes they offer a settlement. They don't have to. Also leave any amount up to them, don't specify an amount lest they smell blood so to speak.

Thanks for the reply. I guess I have to wait for their response. I'll most likely post something then if necessary.

 

[AlterEgo]

Welcome to the forum!

Thinking you can use contactless to Stansted Airport is quite a common problem, I’m surprised you weren’t simply given a Penalty Fare although that would depend on whether the staff members working at the time were authorised to issue them.

The OP dishonestly attempted to short fare which is why a PF wouldn't have been appropriate.

2. Given that this is a first time offence, is it likely to reach an out of court settlement?
3. My ideal outcome would be to pay no more than £500 and not have anything appear on my DBS check. Is that realistic?

Yes, it'll probably cost £100-200 but Greater Anglia usually settle outside of court.

 

[diipchu]

Welcome to the forum!

Thinking you can use contactless to Stansted Airport is quite a common problem, I’m surprised you weren’t simply given a Penalty Fare although that would depend on whether the staff members working at the time were authorised to issue them.

As for what will happen next Greater Anglia will send you a letter which will typically take a couple of months to arrive. It could be sooner but shouldn't take longer than six months. The letter will say that they have received a report, are considering prosecuting you and asking for your version of events. It is important that you engage with and reply to this letter. You might want to include the following in your reply:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the train company's administrative costs in dealing with the matter

Make sure your reply is short and concise, don't give a sob story - they've heard it all before. Greater Anglia are usually prepared to offer an administrative settlement (commonly known as an out of court settlement) for people who engage with the process and who haven't come to their attention before. There is no guarantee of this and they could decide to prosecute you in the magistrates court if they wanted to, although I very much doubt this will happen as long as you engage with them. There is no point in trying to contact Greater Anglia ahead of the letter arriving, they deal with lots of these sort of issues and it trying to reach out earlier could be confusing and counterproductive.

If you are offered a settlement the amount tend to be around £100 plus the outstanding fare. An out of court settlement might appear to be a fine, but it isn't and you won't have a criminal record as a result of accepting one.

Also worth noting that in addition to the ticket you purchased to try and exit the station you will also have an incomplete journey charge from Transport for London, assuming you touched in and didn’t touch out (the system might have auto-corrected it if you make a frequent journey with them). You could try and refund these but this would give you some additional explaining to do.

Feel free to post a copy of the letter once it arrives (with personal details redacted) along with your draft reply in this thread and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.

Thanks for the reply, Hadders.
Just need to wait it out. I've seen your replies on other threads, thanks for helping people like myself. It definitely means a lot.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Jun 2023 ==

The OP dishonestly attempted to short fare which is why a PF wouldn't have been appropriate.

Yes, it'll probably cost £100-200 but Greater Anglia usually settle outside of court.

Thanks for the reply. Hope they're lenient, but I take full responsibility for my actions.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thanks for the reply, Hadders.
Just need to wait it out. I've seen your replies on other threads, thanks for helping people like myself. It definitely means a lot.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Jun 2023 ==


Thanks for the reply. Hope they're lenient, but I take full responsibility for my actions.

water under bridge now but you would prob have been better off juts sticking to the 'I thought I could use contactless' line when you got to the barrier. You might just have got a £50 penalty fare maybe. Still - when you hear from them you can get more help here.

 

[diipchu]

Hey all, thankfully, for the sake of my mental health, I received this. Looks like they were lenient. Thank you all for the support.

 

[Hadders]

Hey all, thankfully, for the sake of my mental health, I received this. Looks like they were lenient. Thank you all for the support.

That’s a decent result in the circumstances, thanks for letting us know.

Did you get a letter from them asking for your version of events, or was this letter the first you’d heard from them?

 

[diipchu]

That’s a decent result in the circumstances, thanks for letting us know.

Did you get a letter from them asking for your version of events, or was this letter the first you’d heard from them?

Just this. I did send them an email just before I made this post and this was their reply:

Thank you for your email. Details of the incident that took place on 26th May 2023 have been submitted, however we have not received the official report.

For this reason, no correspondence has been sent outlining the next steps. You will receive correspondence in due course.