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Got caught by train staff because of prosecution

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Guri

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Joined
13 Nov 2025
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3
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greater london
Cam someone help me as i am international student and few days ago i came in uk and this what happened with.I am trying to sleep and relaxing my mind but i guess so everything is rolling that what happened in my mind after getting caught. Please i am attchanging that which u got from them.if anyone has any knowledge regarding this please let me know and i am really stressful about it.i want a out of the court settlement and able to lay the full amount of penalty.please help me to get out from this as I don’t want to spoil my future because of the court cases.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

Please help me as i am new here,i am an international student here ,i dont want to spoil my future.will i have to face court amd add criminal record
Cam someone help me as i am international student and few days ago i came in uk and this what happened with.I am trying to sleep and relaxing my mind but i guess so everything is rolling that what happened in my mind after getting caught. Please i am attchanging that which u got from them.if anyone has any knowledge regarding this please let me know and i am really stressful about it.i want a out of the court settlement and able to lay the full amount of penalty.please help me to get out from this as I don’t want to spoil my future because of the court cases.
 

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Guri

New Member
Joined
13 Nov 2025
Messages
3
Location
greater london
So i was travelling from farrington to luton but had a ticket luton airport to luton with 16-17 saver while i have 16-25 railcard,so the train ticket checking staff caught me on harpenden where i was get caught.Then a lady officer asked me and i showed my ticket to her then he said i did a fraud i can face a court i have to right to remain silent anything i ll say can be used as a proof against me.I apologise her that i admitted my misktake and i am able to pay the penalty fare but don’t what problem she had with me she was listening to me but only saying you did fraud and you want me to be the part of the fraud.At last she gave me ticket after getting my college id and adress.Now i dont know what to do this thing gave me traumatic memories i am unable to focus on work study and having food.Please i want out of court settlement and can pay the penalty fare.Someone if he or she knows anything,help me please
 

Snow1964

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Joined
7 Oct 2019
Messages
11,176
Location
West Wiltshire
So i was travelling from farrington to luton but had a ticket luton airport to luton with 16-17 saver while i have 16-25 railcard,so the train ticket checking staff caught me on harpenden where i was get caught.Then a lady officer asked me and i showed my ticket to her then he said i did a fraud i can face a court i have to right to remain silent anything i ll say can be used as a proof against me.I apologise her that i admitted my misktake and i am able to pay the penalty fare but don’t what problem she had with me she was listening to me but only saying you did fraud and you want me to be the part of the fraud.At last she gave me ticket after getting my college id and adress.Now i dont know what to do this thing gave me traumatic memories i am unable to focus on work study and having food.Please i want out of court settlement and can pay the penalty fare.Someone if he or she knows anything,help me please
Ok you need to understand English rules and law if you are living in England.

You need to buy a valid ticket for whole journey.
You didn't you deliberately only bought a ticket for minimum journey (probably to get through an entry/exit barrier)
You deliberately selected the half price 16-17 year old ticket even though you are clearly older.

Penalty fares are a fixed value deterrent for mistakes, encouraging you to be more careful.
Yours isn't a mistake it was deliberate in multiple ways. Therefore you can't have a penalty but must now accept either a much bigger amount (if they let you) or they (not you) can choose to go to Court for fine to be imposed.

The ticket the inspector gave you is a zero value excess, which is something to show if you get stopped again later in the journey. You cannot be fined twice for same journey so it just proves action for your lack of real ticket is already recorded.

All you can do now is stop worrying and wait for the letter, which might take a few weeks. When you get it, come back and upload it (with names, references redacted). What is best course of action depends on what letter says.
.
 
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Titfield

Established Member
Joined
26 Jun 2013
Messages
3,234
You will have to wait until you receive a letter from GTR (Govia Thameslink Railway). This may be anything from a week to 10 days to a few months. It depends on how busy they are.

They will ask you for your version of events.

If you apologise, acknowledge your wrong doing, state that you will not do this again (not pay the correct fare) and ask for an out of court settlement then there is a very high level of probability they will offer you an out of court settlement. This will cost you the full fare avoided (at the any time single fare rate) and an administration fee.

If you use the search facility on the top right hand corner of the page you can find many similar cases that have been resolved out of court. There are numerous examples of letters that have been sent that have resulted in an out of court settlement being offered.

Whilst this forum is not judgemental please learn the lesson and do not do this again.
 

jfollows

Established Member
Joined
26 Feb 2011
Messages
10,132
Location
Wilmslow
You don’t have a Penalty Fare, you have been reported and will get a letter in a few weeks asking for your explanation.
In the meantime, do your research and search this forum for many, many similar cases.
You will need to acknowledge your error, and convince them why you will not be doing this again in order for an out of court settlement to be offered. Otherwise you will be prosecuted and, if found guilty, will have a criminal record.
 

agk2126

Member
Joined
4 Aug 2025
Messages
68
Location
London
You might want to redact your first name from the uploaded witness statement.

If you were not offered a Penalty Fare at the time, that is no longer an option. Since you provided your details to Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), you can expect to hear from them. When you hear from them, this forum can help with a draft response. If offered an out of court settlement, you will need to pay GTR the undiscounted Anytime Single fare for all journeys in question, plus an admin fee.

Do you have a history of using the 16-17 saver (50% discount) on GTR without holding that Railcard? If so, you can assume the railway will find out. They may know already.

Also, separately, you say you were going from Farringdon to Luton, holding a ticket from Luton Airport to Luton. The witness statement was issued at Harpenden, which is one stop before Luton Airport Parkway (and therefore not on your ticketed route, regardless of whether you held a Railcard). Did you hold another valid ticket for Farringdon to Luton Airport Parkway segment?

What exactly did you say to the guard or revenue protection officer?
 

WesternLancer

Veteran Member
Joined
12 Apr 2019
Messages
15,271
Cam someone help me as i am international student and few days ago i came in uk and this what happened with.I am trying to sleep and relaxing my mind but i guess so everything is rolling that what happened in my mind after getting caught. Please i am attchanging that which u got from them.if anyone has any knowledge regarding this please let me know and i am really stressful about it.i want a out of the court settlement and able to lay the full amount of penalty.please help me to get out from this as I don’t want to spoil my future because of the court cases.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

Please help me as i am new here,i am an international student here ,i dont want to spoil my future.will i have to face court amd add criminal record

Hopefully by now you appreciate that it was not wise (to say the least) to come to the UK a few days ago but start off travelling by train without paying the correct fare (and indeed by the sound of it deliberately making choices that involved evading paying the correct fare)

You should make sure that you 100% have a correct, valid ticket in future. If you are unsure about the best ticket then you should go and ask at the ticket office before getting on the train.

Here is some information I have copied from another forum member that may help give you some general advice on what to expect as a result of this:



Firstly, you committed a criminal offence by travelling with an invalid ticket and railway companies are entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to. The good news is they will normally offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with them and who haven't come to their attention before.

Next, what happens is the railway company will write to you. The letter will go to the address that you gave them / on any of your ID they checked so you need to be able to access hard copy post at that address as they often send things that way (but also check e-mail and spam). It is extremely important that you reply, and you'll only have a limited time to do so (often 14 days from the date on their communication).

When you receive the letter post a redacted copy of it in this thread, along with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you. You'll find lots of example letters you can use in this section of the forum but the reply basically needs to mention:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident and will not do this again
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the railway company’s administrative costs in dealing with the matter

The railway will probably offer you an out of court settlement. Expect to have to pay the cost of the fare for the journey you made at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for the invalid ticket you purchased. In addition they will charge an admin fee, typically £150. They will also audit your online ticket purchase history and if this shows you've purchased other tickets that were not valid (eg railcard discounted tickets when you did not have a valid railcard, or tickets for only part of the journey, or tickets bought after boarding the train you travelled on) they will probably factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement offer. Depending on how many journeys you've made over the period concerned this could end up being expensive.

Settlements usually have to be paid in full within a few days of them being offered so if money is tight you might want to think about how you will raise the sum required at short notice.
 

MotCO

Established Member
Joined
25 Aug 2014
Messages
6,122
It sounds as though you are at college. It is possible that you will not receive a letter until Christmas time, so will you still be at the same address, or will you be going home for Christmas? If you are away, you may miss any letters, and may not be able to reply within the stipulated time limit.
 

Guri

New Member
Joined
13 Nov 2025
Messages
3
Location
greater london
i am studying in college and have a budget issue nowadays because of that i chose this wrong path.I am ready to pay the penalty fare and don’t want to go to court because it ll spoil my future and add criminal records to my profile.I am assureing you guys that i ll never go with like this in the future.Please give me solution if anyone has.I also wanted to know that if i send them a apology mail before coming the letter would it be good idea or not.
 

WesternLancer

Veteran Member
Joined
12 Apr 2019
Messages
15,271
i am studying in college and have a budget issue nowadays because of that i chose this wrong path.I am ready to pay the penalty fare
You have not been issued with a Penalty Fare so paying one now is not possible. You gave been reported for investigation. Penalty Fares are for ticket mistakes not deliberate evasion. This is explained in post 4 above.
and don’t want to go to court because it ll spoil my future and add criminal records to my profile
You will need to ask for an out of court settlement. See my post above. Such a settlement avoids court and avoids a criminal record.

I am assureing you guys that i ll never go with like this in the future.Please give me solution if anyone has.
See my post above that advises what to do. If it’s not clear please ask. There are lots of previous threads with examples you can read to see what usually happens. The letter you will probably be sent and examples of replies sent.

also wanted to know that if i send them a apology mail before coming the letter would it be good idea or not.
It’s not usually advised that there is any point in doing that at this stage. You need to wait for them to write to you before contacting them. Your case will be in a queue to be dealt with I would imagine.
 
Last edited:

Mike99

Member
Joined
4 Mar 2011
Messages
863
Location
G E M L
So i was travelling from farrington to luton but had a ticket luton airport to luton with 16-17 saver while i have 16-25 railcard,so the train ticket checking staff caught me on harpenden where i was get caught.Then a lady officer asked me and i showed my ticket to her then he said i did a fraud i can face a court i have to right to remain silent anything i ll say can be used as a proof against me.I apologise her that i admitted my misktake and i am able to pay the penalty fare but don’t what problem she had with me she was listening to me but only saying you did fraud and you want me to be the part of the fraud.At last she gave me ticket after getting my college id and adress.Now i dont know what to do this thing gave me traumatic memories i am unable to focus on work study and having food.Please i want out of court settlement and can pay the penalty fare.Someone if he or she knows anything,help me please
As others have posted GTR will be in contact so try to relax until the correspondence arrives. I'm just curious, did your journey start at Farringdon? If so, how did you get through the barriers?
 

Haywain

Veteran Member
Joined
3 Feb 2013
Messages
24,769
As others have posted GTR will be in contact so try to relax until the correspondence arrives. I'm just curious, did your journey start at Farringdon? If so, how did you get through the barriers?
It's very easy to join a Thameslink train at Farringdon without passing through a ticket barrier.
 
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