Fare Evasion... Help please.

[Gecks]

Hi,
A few days ago I managed to get on the train from my local station (Cheadle Hulme) without paying the fare because the train was just about to leave.
Upon arriving in Manchester I approached the ticket officer and asked for a ticket from a closer station (Stockport) so i could get a cheaper fare. I paid for the ticket and then he handed the ticket to another person.
She then called me over and asked me question about what station I was coming from. Like and idiot I lied and said from stockport and stuck with that for a min or so until I buckled and told her where I was actually coming from.
She took my details and then told me about possible fines and possibly having to go to court and getting a criminal record, she then told me to wait for a letter in the post about future precedings.
This is the first time I have ever done this and I feel extremely stupid for even trying it. ad:

If possible could any of you give me any advice or information on this. Whether this could just be settled out of the court and I could just pay a fine maybe?
Also if anyone here has prior experience involving something like this it would be very helpful to hear what you have to say.
Thanks for any help given.

 

[najaB]

If possible could any of you give me any advice or information on this. Whether this could just be settled out of the court and I could just pay a fine maybe?

Also if anyone here has prior experience involving something like this it would be very helpful to hear what you have to say.
Thanks for any help given.

Hello.

First off, let's get it out of the way: by boarding a train without a ticket when there was an opportunity to do so you have breached the Railway Byelaws. By asking for a ticket from a nearer (and presumably cheaper) station than the one you actually travelled from you have breached the Regulation of Railways Act. More details of each set of legislation are available in the Legal Section of the forum.

With that out of the way we can move on to what happens next.

The train operating company (Northern?) will want to recover the correct fare that is due as well as recover the costs that they have incurred in dealing with your case.

If it is Northern their most likely action will be to make you an offer to settle the case for a fixed fee of £80. If they do, then I would advise that you take it.

If they do not, then they are likely to ask you for any reason not to proceed with taking the matter to court. This is your opportunity to put your side of the case. Since there are no mitigating factors that jump out at me from your story I wouldn't try to make any excuses - basically your best strategy will be to try and convince them that you:

• Understand that what you did was wrong.
• Understand that fare evasion costs them money and increases fares for other passengers.
• Will never do it again and want to make restitution.
• Feel that there is no need to take the matter through the court and would like to arrange a private settlement.

If they accept this offer, expect the settlement amount to be somewhere in the region of £150-200.

If they do not accept it then you will receive a summons to appear before the court. Again, since I cannot see anything in your story that would give you a valid defence your best option would be to plead guilty. If the summons is for a Byelaw offence the result would be a fine (£200-300 including costs, etc.) If the summons is for a Regulation of Railways Act offence the result would be a fine of similar magnitude, along with a recorded conviction that would appear on a DBS check for 12 months.

 

[crehld]

I'm guessing as you were on a service from Cheadle Hulme this was a Northern service and it was a Northern inspector you spoke to? This is very similar to a case which appeared on the forum a few months back (i.e. boarded without ticket, attempted to buy ticket at Piccadilly but said they got on at Stockport and were caught out). See here: http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=118444

This case was resolved in the manner described by najaB. If you admit the mistake and are truthful, sincere and apologetic about the incident, and you're not already 'known' to Northern, then chances are this will be settled without going to court. This does come with the health warning that each case is unique, so it's largely up to Northern in how they respond to your side of the story.

 

[miami]

It looks like the fare difference is about 60p return?

 

[ainsworth74]

You will need to await the reply from the TOC but it seems quite likely they may opt to prosecute you under either the Regulation of Railways Act Section 5 or Railway Byelaw 18.

The next likely step will be that they will write to you asking for your version of events. It is up to you how you respond but it would be wise to tell the truth at this stage as lying is likely to make the situation worse. You can also consider replying stating that you're very sorry for your mistake, that you will never do so again, that you are willing to pay the fare outstanding and any administration costs they've inccured.

In our experience replying along the lines of the above may sometimes (but not always) enable you to avoid court and a potential criminal record.

If the TOC decide to prosecute you then you have a few options:

1) Defend your case in court by pleading not guilty. You'll need to be able to defeat the evidence that the prosecution will bring against you. Further if you're found guilty you'll not only face a fine and potentially a criminal record but also the other sides costs (you would also lose the advantage in sentencing of an early guilty plea potentially reducing the fine).

2) Plead guilty and accept a fine and potential criminal record.

3) Write directly to the TOC apologising for your actions and offering to pay the fare outstanding and whatever costs they've incurred so far. They may opt to accept a payment from you directly and avoid court or they may wish to proceed to court.

Finally, and especially if they do take you to court, you should strongly consider seeking professional legal advice even if it's only a 30 minute free consultation. Whilst specialists in railway law are available they are not common and charge a great deal for their services. However, a local firm dealing in criminal law defence should be able to provide adequate assistance.

You may wish to consult the Legal section of our Ticketing Guide for more information and with particular reference to this section and this section.

 

[Gecks]

I'm guessing as you were on a service from Cheadle Hulme this was a Northern service and it was a Northern inspector you spoke to? This is very similar to a case which appeared on the forum a few months back (i.e. boarded without ticket, attempted to buy ticket at Piccadilly but said they got on at Stockport and were caught out). See here: http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=118444

Thanks for sharing, reading this thread was very helpful considering how similar their situation was to mine.

I'm guessing as you were on a service from Cheadle Hulme this was a Northern service and it was a Northern inspector you spoke to?

yeah sorry this was northern rail I was travelling with (forgot to mention)

It looks like the fare difference is about 60p return?

Yeah they said the difference was around that, I don't normally take the train and typically when I have its been around peak times so would cost a bit more so thought it would have been a few pounds but nope really dumb on my part.

 

[miami]

Yeah they said the difference was around that, I don't normally take the train and typically when I have its been around peak times so would cost a bit more so thought it would have been a few pounds but nope really dumb on my part.

There's also the fact there are barriers at Stockport, so you'd struggle to board there without a ticket!

Still, live an learn. We've all done things we regret, I'm just glad you didn't end up with a criminal record or something excessive

 

[cuccir]

Still, live an learn. We've all done things we regret, I'm just glad you didn't end up with a criminal record or something excessive

I don't want to be a fear monger, but we don't yet know that Gecks won't end up with this! If this is a first time case the offer of an £80 is likely but not certain

 

[crehld]

I don't want to be a fear monger, but we don't yet know that Gecks won't end up with this! If this is a first time case the offer of an £80 is likely but not certain

Indeed, hence the health warning attached to my advice.

 

[Haywain]

It looks like the fare difference is about 60p return?

Which was enough that the OP thought it was worth avoiding (although the OP may have thought the amount was higher).

 

[island]

In all likelihood if you haven't committed any offences before and aren't on file, you will be sent a letter offering the opportunity to pay a Penalty Fake of £84.20 to avoid prosecution.

 

[Gecks]

Hi again,
Been a while but I have received a letter today regarding the fare evasion a while ago.
The letter basically states that they have received the a report of the incident and would like to give me the chance to explain what happened.
On the letter they say that I can write an explanation on the back, send it back to them and wait for a decision to the incident.
Does anyone have any advice for what i could write? e.g. should is ask for the fine? or just keep it very straight forward? etc.
Or even if I should give them a ring asking about it?
Any help is greatly appreciated,
Thanks again.