Help, advice, literally anything

[Anon123]

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[WesternLancer]

Hi all,

I bought a child ticket and got stopped at the barriers for an invalid ticket (I'm 19) my details got taken (name, DOB, address, etc) and my rights read out to me. I've been told that I will receive a letter in the post and "Don't do it again". However, from what I'm reading about everyone else's situation is that getting taken to court and having a criminal record is actually very high even in cases where prosecution seems more out of favour than in favour due to factor such as age, first time offender, etc. I'm now stressing more than I already was as how this can effect my future is pretty bad, especially with me wanting to go into a field where a you need to always declare a criminal record.

I got a child ticket on that day because I was very short on money (I had £140 to my name, the ticket was about £35-£39 and I also try to have money left over for emergencies. In this case I was flying to France, where my grandad who isn't doing all that great lets say picks me up. However, I always have a fear he might not turn up and so try to have many for some sort of transport such as a taxi, bus or train. Even then however, I don't speak a word of french, I don't know France at all and know no one else and also have no idea what station or bus stops would even be near where they live. It's very rural and not close to the airport so that makes things harder, hence why a taxi is the option I would choose, however, due to the distance it would cost me £158, so buying an adult ticket would have 100% put me in an impossible place to get a taxi) So I bought a child ticket which was £16 and also had to pay for a bus too which was £1.75. I hadn't taken my Elvanse that morning as I was in a hurry as my alarm didn't even go off until 8am when my bus was at 8:13am so that was just chaos this lead to me making a more impulsive decision when I got caught. I was originally asked why I got a child ticket and said that my dad bought it for me, I simply wasn't thinking and to be honest, struggle to even function without my Elvanse. Things were made worse when my rights were mentioned as I started to think that I was about to have hand cuffs on me and was gonna go to jail so my thoughts were going even faster than before. The lady simply just stated that it was my responsibility and so I said "Okay no worries. I'm sorry for any inconvenience I've caused" she responded with "It's okay" and things went how I first mentioned. I was cooperative throughout and things were just pretty conversational and didn't hold back anything. I didn't even know that having an invalid ticket was a criminal offence and so that probably didn't help in my decision making 'process' at the time. I started at Romford and finished at Stanstead airport. I changed once and that was at Liverpool street. I bought my ticket on the bus as I know I had to collect it but I also had to wait till the last minute to buy the ticket just incase I bought a ticket and then the train left the station before I actually got there. I've been as proactive as I can be and have spent almost all my money that I currently have on a rail card for 3 years and am getting an Oyster too to show that I won't do it again. I'm paid £8 per hour and have to teach myself A-levels and GCSE's but having no money and potentially paying over £1000 within a time frame of 21 days is making things very difficult. I'm still currently in France and have no idea when this letter will arrive, what it will say, how much it will cost, what's going to happen , etc. I planned to be here in France for awhile, borderline living here to look after my grandparents but have to fly back to the uk at some point to see if the letter arrives. My dad's at home but not sure if i even trust him to tell me if the letter has arrived to be honest so I feel just all over the place and want and essentially need all the help I can get to avoid a criminal record. I'm even getting a credit card for future situations where if I need emergency money but don't have much I can use the credit card instead and then pay it off later. I don't plan to be in the Uk for 3 years anyways due to the university situation but just did the rail card for that long because I want be as convincing as possible. Any help or advice or anything I can do in this situation to 1) avoid a criminal record and 2) what to do with the whole letter and postal situation. Thank you.

Hi and welcome

This is a long post with no paragraph breaks which makes it hard to read / fairly indigestible I’m afraid.

If you can have a look at the pinned post at the top of this part if the forum it tells you what key things you need to tell people so they can give the best advice.

If you can post those details as listed it will help make sure you get good advice on how to deal with the situation you are now facing. That way we can help you sort things out.

It the information asked for here

Please read before posting in Disputes & Prosecutions

Guidance for those asking for advice: Please bear in mind the following, when asking for advice in this section: We need to know all relevant facts in order to assist you, including, for example: The stations* where you actually started & finished your journey The stations* where you changed...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Anon123]

Hi and welcome

This is a long post with no paragraph breaks which makes it hard to read / fairly indigestible I’m afraid.

If you can have a look at the pinned post at the top of this part if the forum it tells you what key things you need to tell people so they can give the best advice.

If you can post those details as listed it will help make sure you get good advice on how to deal with the situation you are now facing. That way we can help you sort things out.

It the information asked for here

Please read before posting in Disputes & Prosecutions

Guidance for those asking for advice: Please bear in mind the following, when asking for advice in this section: We need to know all relevant facts in order to assist you, including, for example: The stations* where you actually started & finished your journey The stations* where you changed...

www.railforums.co.uk

All done now, thank you.

 

[Pushpit]

Everything boils down to reacting to Greater Anglia's letter swiftly and with sincerity. This could take 6 days, 6 weeks or (nearly) 6 months, but a few weeks is a common outcome. So whatever else happens, you need to ensure that somehow you get that letter. The single biggest reason for a court prosecution (with the exception of TfL) is failure to stay on top of the train companies' paperwork processes. Right now that's your number one priority.

When it does come, by all means share a redacted version if you want guidance on how to reply, but that reply will almost certainly be a lot shorter than your first post, Greater Anglia want their money without too much fuss, and a commitment to not doing it again, and not a lot more than that. Though there is a "contact us" on the webpage, in reality they need to work off a standard process, hence the letter to you is the first part of this.

 

[Joe Paxton]

[...]
I'm still currently in France and have no idea when this letter will arrive, what it will say, how much it will cost, what's going to happen , etc.

I planned to be here in France for awhile, borderline living here to look after my grandparents but have to fly back to the uk at some point to see if the letter arrives. My dad's at home but not sure if i even trust him to tell me if the letter has arrived to be honest so I feel just all over the place and want and essentially need all the help I can get to avoid a criminal record.
[...]
I don't plan to be in the Uk for 3 years anyways due to the university situation but just did the rail card for that long because I want be as convincing as possible. Any help or advice or anything I can do in this situation to 1) avoid a criminal record and 2) what to do with the whole letter and postal situation. Thank you.
[...]

Assuming your dad is at the address in the UK that you gave, then really you need his co-operation. If you can't persuade him to send on any formal looking letter addressed to you to the address you're staying in France then you might need to 'fess up' to him as to what you've done, and stress the importance of needing to deal with it as the matter won't just go away if it's not dealt with.

Royal Mail do offer an international postal redirection service but it'll be expensive, might not catch all the letters, and inconvenient if you don't know when you're coming back.

As an alternative you could set up a number of pre-addressed envelopes with the correct postage for France so all yoiur dad would need to do is put any 'official looking' letters received at the UK address into one of these envelopes, seal it and put it in a post box. You'd have to tell him that you were expecting an important letter that you need to deal with urgently, but by doing this perhaps you could avoid telling him the specifics.

I appreciate the temptation is to 'put head in sand' with something like this, but it's much better to deal with it head on.

 

[WesternLancer]

All done now, thank you.

Thanks. That’s helpful. You will get the advice you need here.

 

[Alfonso]

If you follow the advice on here you'll learn (1) If you engage and follow the advice given here there's a good chance of being able to reach an out of court settlement, which will cost you money and feel like a fine but isn't a fine and will spare you any potential criminal record and (2) while most of what you have written is personal and important to you, it's completely irrelevant to the railway company.

 

[some bloke]

have to fly back to the uk at some point to see if the letter arrives.

what to do with the whole letter and postal situation.

You can write to the company giving your address in France, suggest that they contact you by email, and ask for confirmation that they have these details.

 

[Anon123]

Everything boils down to reacting to Greater Anglia's letter swiftly and with sincerity. This could take 6 days, 6 weeks or (nearly) 6 months, but a few weeks is a common outcome. So whatever else happens, you need to ensure that somehow you get that letter. The single biggest reason for a court prosecution (with the exception of TfL) is failure to stay on top of the train companies' paperwork processes. Right now that's your number one priority.

When it does come, by all means share a redacted version if you want guidance on how to reply, but that reply will almost certainly be a lot shorter than your first post, Greater Anglia want their money without too much fuss, and a commitment to not doing it again, and not a lot more than that. Though there is a "contact us" on the webpage, in reality they need to work off a standard process, hence the letter to you is the first part of this.

 

[Anon123]

Everything boils down to reacting to Greater Anglia's letter swiftly and with sincerity. This could take 6 days, 6 weeks or (nearly) 6 months, but a few weeks is a common outcome. So whatever else happens, you need to ensure that somehow you get that letter. The single biggest reason for a court prosecution (with the exception of TfL) is failure to stay on top of the train companies' paperwork processes. Right now that's your number one priority.

When it does come, by all means share a redacted version if you want guidance on how to reply, but that reply will almost certainly be a lot shorter than your first post, Greater Anglia want their money without too much fuss, and a commitment to not doing it again, and not a lot more than that. Though there is a "contact us" on the webpage, in reality they need to work off a standard process, hence the letter to you is the first part of this.

 

[alholmes]

Not a great email, I’m sorry to say. It’s too long and rambling, the question is hidden two-thirds of the way down, and it doesn’t actually give the address that you want correspondence to be sent to. But it’s been sent - wait and see what reply you get.

Also, to clarify, the first letter from Greater Anglia won’t necessarily contain a fine or ask for any payment. It’ll probably be requesting your version of events and any mitigation you want to put to them. It’s also your opportunity to ask Greater Anglia if they’d consider offering you an out-of-court settlement.

 

[Anon123]

Not a great email, I’m sorry to say. It’s too long and rambling, the question is hidden two-thirds of the way down, and it doesn’t actually give the address that you want correspondence to be sent to. But it’s been sent - wait and see what reply you get.

Also, to clarify, the first letter from Greater Anglia won’t necessarily contain a fine or ask for any payment. It’ll probably be requesting your version of events and any mitigation you want to put to them. It’s also your opportunity to ask Greater Anglia if they’d consider offering you an out-of-court settlement.

 

[WesternLancer]

I added in context because if I say "Can I change the address" or something just so blunt it can cause the question of "Why didn't you give us the new one" or simply "Why".

The guy who I spoke to was someone from Greater Anglia so I just said what he said to me.

It would be far better for you to post a draft of anything you want to send about anything to do with this here BEFORE you send it off. That way people can help you get an effective message drafted that focuses on what needs to be said.

That will significantly help achieve your objectives by making best use of the knowledge on this forum to help you.

 

[Pushpit]

That said, it is now water under the bridge. Who knows, it may do some good. But it remains the case that until you hear otherwise, the address given on the day of travel remains your focus. If your fear is that your father won't understand the importance of that letter, and you would rather not tell him why (at your age I would have been exactly the same....) then you best swallow that, and tell him why it really, really matters. His opinions maybe interesting, but not as important as your reality.

If GA get in touch via email then by all means reach out here for further advice based on the words used by GA in their reply - no need to rush, but one reason why some people have not been offered an out of court settlement is that their dealings with the train company have been wrong footed.

 

[Anon123]

It would be far better for you to post a draft of anything you want to send about anything to do with this here BEFORE you send it off. That way people can help you get an effective message drafted that focuses on what needs to be said.

That will significantly help achieve your objectives by making best use of the knowledge on this forum to help you.

 

[WesternLancer]

Yeah I mean I will do that from now anyways but it was just the GA person I spoke to said it will be fine if I sent an email and by me asking more about the letter I was much more at easy when he mentioned that it will be just the payment information and I will be able to pay there and then

can I ask where you sent the e-mail? The e-mail address concerned. If it was just a generic customer services e-mail address I would be sceptical it will get to who needs to see it anyway.