HELP PLEASE caught doughnutting ticket

[Widirispanner]

HELPP fare evasion

Hello everyone. Times are hard and I had a bereavement in the family which left me short for cash. I was caught at St Pancras for short ticketing. I bought a ticket from Leagrave to Luton then West Hampstead to St Pancras .


I started my journey at Leagrave but when asked told the inspector I started the journey from Luton in hopes to pay a lower fee. When asked how I came into Luton I mentioned the barrier was opened (he did not believe me). He also asked me if this is my first time doing this I said yes - but i have done this about 9 times in the past. In hindsight I should have been truthful I’m worried they’ll trace my past e tickets.

He then took all my details and said I’ll receive a letter. I have received the letter. I don’t want to go to court !! I’ll never do this again and I’m so upset with myself

What’s going to happen to me ! I cannot lose my job if this goes on DBS.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Welcome to the forum!

There is almost certainly no need to panic: in our experience, GTR (the railway company involved) are generally willing to settle matters like this out of court as long as they think that you won't fare dodge again. And even if the matter does go to court and you lose, many employers are not as worried about minor convictions as people think. There are some exceptions (and these include finance jobs in the City, so it's not impossible that you have a job where it does matter) but for most jobs, as long as you're honest with your employer they will understand that you made a silly mistake in breaking the law - and having been caught you won't do it again.

There should be people along soon with detailed advice on what you need to do in reply to this letter, but for the moment I note that it only seems to be asking about the one time when you were caught. So that's what you will need to tell GTR about. Be honest, and don't lie - but remember that you're not obliged to incriminate yourself so you don't need to mention the other times. Against that, GTR can look at when you bought e-tickets, so don't say anything that they could prove to be untrue (e.g 'I have never done this before').

(Edited for typo: proved > prove)

 

[Widirispanner]

Okay thank you so much for your reply!

I’ll draft a response and if any of you could proof read that will be great!

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

We are seeing lots of cases like this at the moment.

When you reply to the letter I suggest including the following points in your reply:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the train company's administrative costs in dealing with the matter

Make sure your reply is short and concise, don't give a sob story - they've heard it all before. GTR are usually prepared to offer an administrative settlement (commonly known as an out of court settlement) for people who engage with the process and who haven't come to their attention before. There is no guarantee of this and they are within their rights to prosecute you in the magistrates court.

An aggravating factor in your case is that you have done this before. GTR will be able to access your online ticket purchasing history so it is important that you are truthful when you reply to the questions in their letter. You are not required to incriminate yourself but equally if they mention previous occasions in the letter it would be wise to be truthful.

If you are offered a settlement the amount varies depending on the train company and circumstances but tend to be around £100 plus the outstanding fare. An out of court settlement might appear to be a fine, but it isn't and you won't have a criminal record as a result of accepting one.

Feel free to post a copy of the letter once it arrives (with personal details redacted) along with your draft reply in this thread and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.

 

[Widirispanner]

Welcome to the forum!

We are seeing lots of cases like this at the moment.

When you reply to the letter I suggest including the following points in your reply:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the train company's administrative costs in dealing with the matter

Make sure your reply is short and concise, don't give a sob story - they've heard it all before. GTR are usually prepared to offer an administrative settlement (commonly known as an out of court settlement) for people who engage with the process and who haven't come to their attention before. There is no guarantee of this and they are within their rights to prosecute you in the magistrates court.

An aggravating factor in your case is that you have done this before. GTR will be able to access your online ticket purchasing history so it is important that you are truthful when you reply to the questions in their letter. You are not required to incriminate yourself but equally if they mention previous occasions in the letter it would be wise to be truthful.

If you are offered a settlement the amount varies depending on the train company and circumstances but tend to be around £100 plus the outstanding fare. An out of court settlement might appear to be a fine, but it isn't and you won't have a criminal record as a result of accepting one.

Feel free to post a copy of the letter once it arrives (with personal details redacted) along with your draft reply in this thread and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.

Thanks for your response @Hadders the letter I received is attached above in the original post .


Here’s the draft I’ve made :


Dear Sir/Madam,


I am writing in response to the letter sent by you on 12/09/2023.


On XX, 2023, I failed to produce a valid ticket that covered the entire length of my journey from XX to London St Pancras. I had purchased a ticket from Leagrave . I was stopped by an inspector at London St Pancras and questioned about my ticket.

I understand that ticket evasion costs the railways companies a lot of time and money and investigating cases like mine is also very costly in staff time. I'm really sorry, I have learnt a valuable lesson from this incident and would be grateful for the opportunity to settle this matter outside of court . I am asking you to make an exception in my case. I am truly sorry for my actions, and I regret them hugely.


I would like to offer to pay the full amount due for my travel and any additional costs you incurred in dealing with this case.

I assure you that I will take care to make sure this situation does not occur again.
Yours faithfully


Is this any good? Could someone kindly proof read please or tell me what I could do better ?

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Thanks for your response @Hadders the letter I received is attached above in the original post .


Here’s the draft I’ve made :


Dear Sir/Madam,


I am writing in response to the letter sent by you on 12/09/2023.


On XX, 2023, I failed to produce a valid ticket that covered the entire length of my journey from XX to London St Pancras. I had purchased a ticket from Leagrave . I was stopped by an inspector at London St Pancras and questioned about my ticket.

I understand that ticket evasion costs the railways companies a lot of time and money and investigating cases like mine is also very costly in staff time. I'm really sorry, I have learnt a valuable lesson from this incident and would be grateful for the opportunity to settle this matter outside of court . I am asking you to make an exception in my case. I am truly sorry for my actions, and I regret them hugely.


I would like to offer to pay the full amount due for my travel and any additional costs you incurred in dealing with this case.

I assure you that I will take care to make sure this situation does not occur again.
Yours faithfully


Is this any good? Could someone kindly proof read please or tell me what I could do better ?

There will be people who have other suggestions, but I think it's more or less fine - although I wouldn't use the line about 'make an exception in my case': why should the railway treat you any differently from anyone else? And in practice we find that GTR settle a lot of cases out of court, so actually you're not asking them to make an exception but to do what they normally do!

 

[Haywain]

Dear Sir/Madam,


I am writing in response to the letter sent by you on 12/09/2023.


On XX, 2023, I failed to produce a valid ticket that covered the entire length of my journey from XX to London St Pancras. I had purchased a ticket from Leagrave . I was stopped by an inspector at London St Pancras and questioned about my ticket.

I understand that ticket evasion costs the railways companies a lot of time and money and investigating cases like mine is also very costly in staff time. I'm really sorry, I have learnt a valuable lesson from this incident and would be grateful for the opportunity to settle this matter outside of court . I am asking you to make an exception in my case. I am truly sorry for my actions, and I regret them hugely.


I would like to offer to pay the full amount due for my travel and any additional costs you incurred in dealing with this case.

I assure you that I will take care to make sure this situation does not occur again by buying tickets that cover my full journey.
Yours faithfully

I would suggest a couple of minor amendments, involving leaving a few words out and a small addition. In the first case, because the words could confuse things and suggest you want to be taken to court, and in the second case for clarity with a few words added to the end to avoid sounding as if you don't intend to get caught again!

 

[Widirispanner]

I would suggest a couple of minor amendments, involving leaving a few words out and a small addition. In the first case, because the words could confuse things and suggest you want to be taken to court, and in the second case for clarity with a few words added to the end to avoid sounding as if you don't intend to get caught again!

Thank you, I’ll change it to this & give an update

 

[Widirispanner]

Hey all, I’ve received the response letter & they have agreed on an out of court settlement penalty of £69.80.

So relieved. Thanks for all your help.

 

[John R]

Thanks for letting us know. That sounds like a very good result under the circumstances. It hopefully goes without saying that you need to ensure you remain squeaky clean in future, as you would be unlikely to get another opportunity to settle out of court.