Am I going to be prosecuted? - information appreciated

[bluety]

Panicking a bit. I won’t go into why I’ve done this, but I had invalid tickets for about 10 journeys, and I was caught at London Paddington for using an incorrect one for a recent journey. I have a record of buying lots of valid tickets too, I don’t do this all the time. Staff at station took my address.

• Why did they take my address instead of making me pay the penalty then and there?? I’m concerned about this.
• What will happen to me? Am I going to have a criminal record? Am I going to jail?
• What will happen next? I suppose I can expect a letter in the post?
• How long should the letter take to arrive? I’m worried that I’ll miss it and things will escalate.

Other details:

• I do have a valid Railcard, which I showed them.
• I was compliant in my interaction with the staff member.
• After they took all my details, the staff member said I could answer a few more questions if I wanted to, but I didn’t have to. Is this the "interview under caution" I see mentioned on these forums? I was a bit muddled and panicky so I said I’d rather not, and I did have to go to work, but now in hindsight I’m worried that I should have answered them. Maybe that’s why they didn’t make me pay them and there, and they plan to follow it up?

(For privacy reasons I’m not listing all the stations here.)

 

[AlterEgo]

It is impossible to give any answers to any of your questions unless you tell us exactly what you've been up to. In what way were your tickets invalid?

 

[bluety]

It is impossible to give any answers to any of your questions unless you tell us exactly what you've been up to. In what way were your tickets invalid

Thanks for the reply. It was short faring.

 

[blimmo]

One thing we can say fairly confidently without further details is that you aren't going to prison.

 

[bluety]

This is honestly appreciated! I was picturing terrible things. Thank you

One thing we can say fairly confidently without further details is that you aren't going to prison.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 Sep 2025 ==

 

[AlterEgo]

This is honestly appreciated! I was picturing terrible things. Thank you


== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 Sep 2025 ==

More details I should add (I can’t see a way to edit and add this to the post - I’m new here) :

After they took all my details, the staff member said I could answer a few more questions if I wanted to, but I didn’t have to. I was a bit muddled and panicky so I said I’d rather not, and I did have to go to work, but now in hindsight I’m worried that I should have answered them. Maybe that’s why they didn’t make me pay them and there, and they plan to follow it up?

Short faring is never a penalty fare matter and is always reported for prosecution. You do not have to answer any questions and it was not in your interests together.

 

[bluety]

Short faring is never a penalty fare matter and is always reported for prosecution. You do not have to answer any questions and it was not in your interests together.

Thanks for this extra information. This scares me though. What’s going to happen to me? I hoped I’d be able to pay a fine and move forward.

 

[blimmo]

I would recommend reading some other threads on this forum to get an idea of what will happen next. There are plenty of other people in the same boat as you. There is nothing you can do right now as you have to wait for them to contact you. It may take some time if the relevant train company has a backlog.

 

[AlterEgo]

Thanks for this extra information. This scares me though. What’s going to happen to me? I hoped I’d be able to pay a fine and move forward.

What happens is GWR will write to you outlining the offence or offences they suspect you of and will threaten to.prosecute you in the magistrates court. If you are sufficiently contrite and offer to pay their costs and all outstanding fares, they usually settle out of court for an admin fee in the low three figures plus the value of each and every journey avoided at the Anytime Single rate.

 

[blimmo]

This scares me though.

Reported for prosecution does not mean will be prosecuted. Most people who respond constructively when contacted are able to avoid court by paying a settlement.

 

[bluety]

Thank you very much for the reassurance and information. It is appreciated.

 

[John R]

You’ll probably find that they will review your account, and for those 10 instances (single or return?) add the Anytime single fare to an out of court settlement offer, along with an admin fee of maybe £150. That’s if you cooperate and respond as discussed in an apologetic manner and promise not to do it again.

As noted, penalty fares are for instances which are clearly or might be genuine mistakes. Where it is clear that you have tried to evade the correct fare then reporting for potential prosecution is the approach taken.

 

[bluety]

You’ll probably find that they will review your account, and for those 10 instances (single or return?) add the Anytime single fare to an out of court settlement offer, along with an admin fee of maybe £150. That’s if you cooperate and respond as discussed in an apologetic manner and promise not to do it again.

As noted, penalty fares are for instances which are clearly or might be genuine mistakes. Where it is clear that you have tried to evade the correct fare then reporting for potential prosecution is the approach taken.

Thank you very much for this. This makes sense. And they were single journeys.