Spaceship323
Member
If it went to court the magistrate will only be interested in your mental health at the time of the offence, they won't take into account what has happened since
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Caught using freedom pass
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That’s a given for anyone who gets convicted. But if you’re trying to explain how this will specifically affect your health going forward, you need a doctor’s letter if you’re serious about this, not 19 pages of notes which you hope some clerk in the office will do more than skim read.
Being convicted of an offence isn’t good news for anyone. It shouldn’t be; you’re being punished for being dishonest, and basically for being a habitual thief. And TfL don’t even know about the other Freedom Pass you were rinsing either. There are hundreds of thousands of people every year convicted of offences and many, many people have mental health conditions which might get worse.
What you need to evidence is why it would be disproportionately severe in your case and that you should be one of very few people to escape all of the consequences of your actions. I can’t put it more plainly than that.
Final draft. Going to send off later today :
FIRST NAME, LAST NAME
DOB - xx
UK address - xx
Phone Number - xx
Email Address – xx (is this necessary ? Just following format on back page of letter)
Date – xx
Dear Investigations Appeals and Prosecutions Team,
Case Reference Number – XX
I am writing to express my deepest apologies for the misuse of my xx's Disability Freedom Pass on xx. Firstly, I want to thank TFL for giving me the opportunity to explain my behaviour.
I have spent the days since the incident thoroughly reflecting on my actions. I acknowledge that a freedom pass is a privilege for the less fortunate, and I have now abused that privilege. My actions resulted in financial loss for TfL and placed an unnecessary burden on staff members who work hard to provide this vital public service. I acknowledge that TfL is only able to operate if everyone pays their fare and, as such, my actions have breached public trust. I am very ashamed of my actions and am filled with deep regret. I have been struggling to eat, and my insomnia has worsened since the incident, as I have been in constant reflection over how serious my actions were. Despite this reflection, I have no excuse for fare evasion. I am normally a law-abiding citizen and have never engaged in such deceitful behaviour elsewhere in my life. Nonetheless, this is no excuse.
I have been unemployed for over a year and the reason for this is due to my deteriorating mental health and my diagnosis of depression and anxiety since xx, with no signs of improvement. (Please see Medical Records attached). I departed from my previous job for this reason. (Please see Resignation Letter/PAYE attached). This has, in turn, caused me extreme financial hardship. Furthermore, I have been struggling to find a graduate job since graduating in xx and, due to the nature of my career prospects, any prosecution will be detrimental to my job applications. I have an ambition to work for the Civil Service, and I am worried that if a security clearance is needed, this will affect me negatively. Searching for a job has been mentally exhausting and a prosecution would further impact my mental health. In the meantime, I have been awaiting vacancies at my previous job to open up since January, so I can regain financial stability and discuss, in accordance with my GP and employer, how we can better accommodate my ability to work.
Moving forward, I am proactively making sure I pay the correct travel fare and have even purchased a rail card, as I am fully aware of my wrongdoing in the misuse of a Freedom Pass. (Please see Railcard receipt attached). I reassure you that such a mistake will not happen again.
Therefore, I am willing to pay the outstanding fares and necessary fees for TfL, but I hope you may consider not proceeding with legal action and settling this out of court under Section 8 of TfL’s prosecution policy. I would like the opportunity to make amends. I would greatly appreciate it if my medical condition and aspirations to work in the public sector can be considered as grounds to not proceed with prosecution, as I am willing to pay the costs incurred for settlement, regardless of my current financial status. If any further information is needed, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours faithfully,
xx
Attached :
1. Medical Records (10 pages) - (going to try get a letter directly from GP)
2. PAYE slip for proof of unemployment
3. Resignation letter which states why i left my last job
4. Proof of Railcard and TfL journey's I have made post incident
Optional :
5. Disability support letter direct from GP for uni in like 2021 ? Idk if there is any point. Let me know if i should use this. Essentially states I was unfit to take exams due to mental health and concentration issues.
Please check for grammar, spelling, formatting, rearranging etc.
What font is most professional and in what size ?
Is all the details at the start of the letter correct ?
FIRST NAME, LAST NAME
DOB - xx
UK address - xx
Phone Number - xx
Email Address – xx (is this necessary ? Just following format on back page of letter)
Date – xx
Dear Investigations Appeals and Prosecutions Team,
Case Reference Number – XX
I am writing to express my deepest apologies for the misuse of my xx's Disability Freedom Pass on xx. Firstly, I want to thank TFL for giving me the opportunity to explain my behaviour.
I have spent the days since the incident thoroughly reflecting on my actions. I acknowledge that a freedom pass is a privilege for the less fortunate, and I have now abused that privilege. My actions resulted in financial loss for TfL and placed an unnecessary burden on staff members who work hard to provide this vital public service. I acknowledge that TfL is only able to operate if everyone pays their fare and, as such, my actions have breached public trust. I am very ashamed of my actions and am filled with deep regret. I have been struggling to eat, and my insomnia has worsened since the incident, as I have been in constant reflection over how serious my actions were. Despite this reflection, I have no excuse for fare evasion. I am normally a law-abiding citizen and have never engaged in such deceitful behaviour elsewhere in my life. Nonetheless, this is no excuse.
I have been unemployed for over a year and the reason for this is due to my deteriorating mental health and my diagnosis of depression and anxiety since xx, with no signs of improvement. (Please see Medical Records attached). I departed from my previous job for this reason. (Please see Resignation Letter/PAYE attached). This has, in turn, caused me extreme financial hardship. Furthermore, I have been struggling to find a graduate job since graduating in xx and, due to the nature of my career prospects, any prosecution will be detrimental to my job applications. I have an ambition to work for the Civil Service, and I am worried that if a security clearance is needed, this will affect me negatively. Searching for a job has been mentally exhausting and a prosecution would further impact my mental health. In the meantime, I have been awaiting vacancies at my previous job to open up since January, so I can regain financial stability and discuss, in accordance with my GP and employer, how we can better accommodate my ability to work.
Moving forward, I am proactively making sure I pay the correct travel fare and have even purchased a rail card, as I am fully aware of my wrongdoing in the misuse of a Freedom Pass. (Please see Railcard receipt attached). I reassure you that such a mistake will not happen again.
Therefore, I am willing to pay the outstanding fares and necessary fees for TfL, but I hope you may consider not proceeding with legal action and settling this out of court under Section 8 of TfL’s prosecution policy. I would like the opportunity to make amends. I would greatly appreciate it if my medical condition and aspirations to work in the public sector can be considered as grounds to not proceed with prosecution, as I am willing to pay the costs incurred for settlement, regardless of my current financial status. If any further information is needed, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours faithfully,
xx
Attached :
1. Medical Records (10 pages) - (going to try get a letter directly from GP)
2. PAYE slip for proof of unemployment
3. Resignation letter which states why i left my last job
4. Proof of Railcard and TfL journey's I have made post incident
Optional :
5. Disability support letter direct from GP for uni in like 2021 ? Idk if there is any point. Let me know if i should use this. Essentially states I was unfit to take exams due to mental health and concentration issues.
Please check for grammar, spelling, formatting, rearranging etc.
What font is most professional and in what size ?
Is all the details at the start of the letter correct ?
Last edited:
tonycockram
Member
- Joined
- 23 Jan 2013
- Messages
- 77
Looking through that I’m certain you will be summonsed by tfl. I think the only way you could possibly avoid a summons by tfl is to speak with one of the specialised solicitors for fare evasion cases. One that I know mentioned around here is manaks, but it is going to cost quite a sum of money for them to take on your case I think it’s between five hundred and twelve hundred pounds with no guarantee that they can get a final warning for you.
It’s a decision only you can make, but I’m certain that if that letter is sent as above, the next thing you will see is a summons.
Good luck whichever way you decide to go
It’s a decision only you can make, but I’m certain that if that letter is sent as above, the next thing you will see is a summons.
Good luck whichever way you decide to go
I think this is OK. I think it gets the message across quite clearly, and is probably about as good an attempt at this as you can make, without assistance from a specialist solicitor. It will be more important to get the submission in on time than fine tuning minor details. If you can get a really clear medical letter in on time then do so, if not I would just add that further medical records are available if required. I would add in 5. I think there have been plenty of "reality checks" in the previous posts, TfL tend not to be easily persuaded since while they prosecute a lot of people, they tend to be for the more serious forms of fare evasion. I am saying this on the basis of the best support I can give you on this forum, rather than my own value judgements here. So that's why I want to note that it's clear to me that you have really sweated over this letter, and it shows that you are giving this matter serious thought, which is to your credit.
Well how would I change my letter to avoid that ? I can’t afford a lawyer. So I’m trying my best to avoid prosecution myself.
There isn't much else you can do about the letter to be quite frank. The main thing you could get to help yourself is a doctor's letter, but we have already covered this.
SuspectUsual
Established Member
- Joined
- 11 Jul 2018
- Messages
- 6,772
I’m afraid that’s going to be very difficult.
From what you’ve said, you’ve got two lines of argument
1 - my prior poor mental health has caused me to be unemployed, being unemployed means I have no money, having no money meant I chose to break the law. Likely TfL response - loads of people are skint and manage not to break the law
2 - please don’t prosecute me as it’ll make my mental health worse. Likely TfL response - you should have considered that before you broke the law
Sorry if that sounds harsh, but it’s what I think they’re likely to think.
But as someone else has already said, including your health evidence can’t make the situation any worse
I agree, if you can't afford a solicitor this is probably the best you're going to be able to do and no amount of fine tuning is going to materially change your prospects. I just don't think any of us are too hopeful that it will result in you avoiding prosecution.
I just received a Doctor’s letter. Will that help ?
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
So I just got a doctor’s note. They have noted. I do attend the GP for depression and anxiety. And they’ve noted I struggle day to day with motivation and completing activities
She also noted I have symptoms of adhd and can act on impulse and can be restless.
It might improve your chances, include it. It certainly won't reduce your chances.
OK, that's as good as it gets. Package this carefully, get it off to TfL, and if it's going by Royal Mail invest in recorded delivery. Email is just as good. Then it's time to move on, since it may take a few weeks before you hear anything more from TfL.
Fawkes Cat
Established Member
- Joined
- 8 May 2017
- Messages
- 5,291
Just to add to this:
- if you can, send copies and not your original documents
- whatever you send, keep a copy of it. Taking pictures of it on your phone would be a good way to do this. This includes your letter as well as documents!
It’s all email so I don’t think this is necessary right ?
Fawkes Cat
Established Member
- Joined
- 8 May 2017
- Messages
- 5,291
The important thing is to keep a copy in case you need to check what you said, or they deny ever receiving it!
Hi guys,
I was on holiday so did not have time to follow up on the results.
I sent the letter regarding my defense on like the 23rd of Feb or smth like that. incident happened on the 12th. And I received a response on like the 12th March. They have let me off with a warning. I am sure some of you have seen the letter before as I saw it on one of the other threads. It basically said even though they have enough evidence to prosecute they have chosen to let me off with a warning but will monitor me for 12 months.
I have gotten a rail card anyway and its been saving me a bit of money so if anyone wants to opt for that as an under 30 then I suggest so.
Things I found worked for me :
1. Purchase some kind of railcard or another benefit as it shows that you are willing to rectify your mistake and prevent it from happening in the future. I attached proof of purchase of my railcard
2. If you have a history of mental health then try to get a doctor's letter just outlining the issues you are facing and the symptoms. My doctor was surprisingly understanding and wrote me a letter no questions asked. I also attached some of my medical records to show the different timelines and how my health has deteriorated.
3. I got a lawyer friend and an actual lawyer who I used to work for to look over my letter but they didn't get involved past just reading the letter so I didnt get charged. So if you know anyone that a law student or involved in the law to just look over your letter. I also had a friend who works at TFL to look at my letter although thats an unlikely solution so just try to find someone you may know who understands how a plea letter should read.
I may be missing some stuff but most importantly appreciate everyone on here that gave me support and advice. Everyone replied very quickly and I got feedback from multiple people and I doubt I would have got off with a warning without them. Thank you for that.
If anyone in future is reading this all the details are above and my final letter reads exactly how it looks above (more or less). So use it as a blueprint given the outcome I received.
I was on holiday so did not have time to follow up on the results.
I sent the letter regarding my defense on like the 23rd of Feb or smth like that. incident happened on the 12th. And I received a response on like the 12th March. They have let me off with a warning. I am sure some of you have seen the letter before as I saw it on one of the other threads. It basically said even though they have enough evidence to prosecute they have chosen to let me off with a warning but will monitor me for 12 months.
I have gotten a rail card anyway and its been saving me a bit of money so if anyone wants to opt for that as an under 30 then I suggest so.
Things I found worked for me :
1. Purchase some kind of railcard or another benefit as it shows that you are willing to rectify your mistake and prevent it from happening in the future. I attached proof of purchase of my railcard
2. If you have a history of mental health then try to get a doctor's letter just outlining the issues you are facing and the symptoms. My doctor was surprisingly understanding and wrote me a letter no questions asked. I also attached some of my medical records to show the different timelines and how my health has deteriorated.
3. I got a lawyer friend and an actual lawyer who I used to work for to look over my letter but they didn't get involved past just reading the letter so I didnt get charged. So if you know anyone that a law student or involved in the law to just look over your letter. I also had a friend who works at TFL to look at my letter although thats an unlikely solution so just try to find someone you may know who understands how a plea letter should read.
I may be missing some stuff but most importantly appreciate everyone on here that gave me support and advice. Everyone replied very quickly and I got feedback from multiple people and I doubt I would have got off with a warning without them. Thank you for that.
If anyone in future is reading this all the details are above and my final letter reads exactly how it looks above (more or less). So use it as a blueprint given the outcome I received.
Thanks for uodating us. You've been very lucky as TfL normally prosecute cases like this.
Apologies if it's mentioned upthread but how old are you? as this could influence TfL's decision to only offer a warning.
Apologies if it's mentioned upthread but how old are you? as this could influence TfL's decision to only offer a warning.
23. I think age and the position of my career I am in given the job market and recently just graduated probably influenced them to give a warning. Also the pass i used was relatively new so i dont think i made a whole lot of journeys on THAT card to that specific location.
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