I travelled from Brighton to Cambridge on Thameslink 3 days ago without paying and got caught by a ticket inspector at East Croydon. I gave a fake name, didn't provide ID, and told the inspector I got on at East Croydon and was getting off at Farringdon. The inspector was wearing a bodycam which I don't believe was recording but it well could have been. I attempted to provide a fake address but couldn't give the name of the people who lived there so I gave the address of my next door neighbour who I dislike. My question is how likely is this to go to prosecution and would they realistically be able to / be bothered to track me down?
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Possibly avoidable penalty fare
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Yep. Didn't even let me buy a ticket which I was trying to do. Said it's 'standard procedure'
Fawkes Cat
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I may be being unfair, but if this is to start checking whether the notice was issued correctly, the OP would have an (insurmountable?) obstacle in challenging it in that they would have to disclose their breach of byelaw 23.
I know. I'm asking how likely that is to actually happen. I suppose it depends whether my neighbour bins the letter or returns to sender. But even if she did return to sender would it ever get to a point where she's in a room with Thameslink people/BTP and they're showing her footage of me which I'm not sure even exists?
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I believe the notice was issued correctly and whether or not I pay the penalty fare I intend to avoid a situation in which I would have to find potential breaches of procedure to defend my case.
They would not be able to do that.
If they try to take her to court it's quite likely that when she says "it wasn't me" then the truth may come out. You say you don't like her - does she think the same about you?
Fawkes Cat
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In that case, my advice must be to pay the penalty. We aim to prevent people being oppressed by the railway, but that's not the same as helping people to avoid their responsibilities. You accept that the penalty was properly issued, so you should pay it.
If you are looking for a pragmatic reason to back this up, if the Penalty is paid, the railway will have no reason to become aware of you giving false details, and the risk of them following that up also goes away.
Why
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Are inspectors legally required to try and sell me a ticket before issuing a penalty fare?
Because it would break GDPR, and because also, who has time for any of all this over fifty pounds?
That said, dropping your neighbour in it is obviously wrong and you need to take responsibility and be an adult about this.
She does.
WesternLancer
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No. If they were why would anyone ever buy a ticket before they got caught by an inspector knowing this was a rare likelihood.
I would advise that you pay the penalty fare quickly to avoid yours if the discounted rate and prevent the likelihood of anything further happening.
True but GDPR can be flexible if the BTP become involved in the investigation. Not sure how likely that is though.
It isn't going to happen over one penalty fare.
Not remotely likely.
If you pay the PF as already advised (and start paying for your travel!) that is an end to the matter.
Assuming your next door neighbour doesn’t share your dishonest travel habits, they won't be affected either.
If you neighbour ignores the penalty fare, it could go to court which means the whole thing could get out of hand, giving you little chance of negotiating a settlement figure. Best pay penalty fare while you can benefit from a 50% discount. We have seen these claims escalate into large sums when admistration & court costs are added
Do such small fines tend to escalate like that? Suppose fraud is involved too to be fair. Might just cough up the £60 but I may be eating sparse this month lol
soccermad
Member
As advised , you should just pay what you owe as you have admitted travelling without a ticket
Pay it before the reduced rater of 50% expires
WesternLancer
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Yes they do. Unpaid penalty fares escalate to court and iirc it’s for criminal offence of travel without a ticket. Not the civil offence of an unpaid fare debt.
So the person you named has a strong incentive to engage with it (at least by informing the railway or the court it wasn’t them) as eventually a court paper turns up. Then court bailiffs etc.
we see this happening on the forum occasionally.
If I’ve got this wrong someone will correct me.
I don't think we have ever seen a case where a person got dobbed in by some other person having previously given false details. If you write back to a train company and say it wasn't you that's the end of the matter. They don't have the time to chase up this stuff for fifty pounds, sorry, but that is reality.
What is also reality is that the OP has incriminated an innocent party and must morally correct that, because to be quite honest they are a low quality person for doing that to an innocent person. If the other party doesn't respond or get the letters they could end up being prosecuted, and this is clearly not fair or just. So, I recommend the OP pays the penalty fare, which is what they ought to do, and think about how they might become a better person.
What is also reality is that the OP has incriminated an innocent party and must morally correct that, because to be quite honest they are a low quality person for doing that to an innocent person. If the other party doesn't respond or get the letters they could end up being prosecuted, and this is clearly not fair or just. So, I recommend the OP pays the penalty fare, which is what they ought to do, and think about how they might become a better person.
Chrius56000
Member
There has certainly been a case of this type reported on this Section of the Forum involving T & W Nexus and it caused the OP some very considerable amount of annoyance involving more than one S.D. – I myself offered a word or two of advice regarding it at the time!
It wasn’t me! Penalty fine
Hi, looking for some advice please. I recieved a further steps notice for a penalty fine and after going back to them with info HMCTS have sent me a plea form and statutory declaration. Apparently the original fine was sent to my old address which is why I didn’t receive the first letter and...
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No it was to make quite sure it was a PF not TIR/MG11 as the advice would be completely different.
Then the safest thing is just to pay that Penalty Fare. Once it's paid, the case gets closed and the reality is that'll be the end of it and your lies are unlikely to be discovered as once it's paid, why would they bother to investigate anything?
If you don't pay it, they will discover your lies when your neighbour is contacted, and if they do track you down it'll all end up considerably more expensive and quite possibly in court. If they do have bodycam footage they may circulate your picture asking all their inspectors to look out for you - and then you certainly don't want to risk encountering the same inspector again!
(I witnessed exactly this on a train a few weeks ago, where the inspector challenged someone saying he recognised them as a fare evader from a photo that had been circulated and was asking for the police to meet the train at its destination.)
Swedenorer
Member
Pay it. I suppose you were asked how you'd actually go to a platform at East Croydon?
Trainman40083
Established Member
Indeed Brighton and Cambridge have ticket barriers too.