Potential Fare Evading - HELP!

[bib3412]

Hey,

So I am going to be completely honest about my situation as I am panicking the worst I have in my life. I am an international student and not a UK citizen so my worst nightmare is getting a criminal record show up on by DBS which hinders my employment prospects.

I recently got my first internship in Reading and started in July but soon realized how much I was paying for tickets from Slough to Reading and came to a conclusion that I will not be able to save much for my Final Year of Uni if i keep paying the full price, So I started buying tickets to Slough to Burnham so I can get in the slough station, and then Reading west to Reading to get into Reading station, and then vice versa at 5 to get back. I have been doing this consistently over the past 2 month since mid July after hearing from a friend of said method.

Today I was caught by an inspection office who could realize what I have been doing, he also noticed that I was refunding the tickets to get into the Slough station as I just showed them to the officer at Slough and didn't scan them so they could be refunded. Now he took everything on paper, I said i have been doing it over 3 or more weeks but have been doing for a bit short of 2 months. I was honest and said I didn't know this was a criminal offence and was ready to pay any fine they may charge but he said he can't do anything and this is going to go to the Revenue Recovery Team and they will investigate how long I have been doing this and charge me that amount and a fine. My original intent was just to save some money and didn't realize I could be criminally prosecuted which in hindsight I do realize now and feel very dumb and hate myself for it. I always pay for other tickets for eg getting to London or travelling UK-wide but it was just this daily journey that I was trying to save on.

After asking the officer, he said I will be contacted by post and he handed me some policies, after reading them I found this stated "If you systematically or persistently travel without a ticket or without a valid ticket We will consider this to be a fraud matter and we will instigate a criminal investigation into your actions. You could end up in court as a result." After reading this, I have realized how screwed I am and willing to pay any dues or fine so it doesn't end up in Court or as a criminal record on my history. I really wanna secure employment after I graduate next year because of my family conditions back home and came with a lot of hope and ambitions with which I initially started this internship too. Now I realize they might as well be just pipe dreams unaware of what's going to happen to me.

I would appreciate any and all advice, if I can get by without a criminal record or if I will likely end up in court or jail, or how I should proceed as I am still pending the letter from them. I am writing this on 28th August 2026 and this happened just half hour ago.

PLEASE HELP!

 

[Swedenorer]

What you have done is termed Doughnutting. In this case you could be prosecuted for the one offence you were caught doing. You would be found guilty. You would not be jailed but you would be fined. How it might affect your future we cannot advise you.

Alternatively GWR will probably offer you a settlement along these lines:
Two months at 5 days a week call it 46 days at anytime day single - £13.40 Slough to Reading both ways i.e. 92 single journeys plus something like a £150 admin fee. A total of call it £1400 payable on demand. It is possible that no credit will be allowed for the fares already paid.

They will contact you but it may take some time. You'll just have to wait.

 

[bib3412]

What you have done is termed Doughnutting. In this case you could be prosecuted for the one offence you were caught doing. You would be found guilty. You would not be jailed but you would be fined. How it might affect your future we cannot advise you.

Alternatively GWR will probably offer you a settlement along these lines:
Two months at 5 days a week call it 46 days at anytime day single - £13.40 Slough to Reading both ways i.e. 92 single journeys plus something like a £150 admin fee. A total of call it £1400 payable on demand.

They will contact you but it may take some time. You'll just have to wait.

Thank you for getting back to me, I calculated I have been doing this for the past 32 days, and will pay any fine they seem fit for the offence.

I wanted to ask would I directly be prosecuted? Or will I be offered a chance at a pre-court settlement, so it doesn't show up on a Criminal Record on my history?

If this is a coined term, have there been similar instances that I could read about or learn how best to proceed? I am open to every advice as I am very sorry for my behavior.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Thank you for getting back to me, I calculated I have been doing this for the past 32 days, and will pay any fine they seem fit for the offence.

I wanted to ask would I directly be prosecuted? Or will I be offered a chance at a pre-court settlement, so it doesn't show up on a Criminal Record on my history?

If this is a coined term, have there been similar instances that I could read about or learn how best to proceed? I am open to every advice as I am very sorry for my behavior.

I'm assuming you've been stopped by someone working for GWR.

If so, have a read of the prosecution policy on their website - they say they try and avoid prosecution wherever possible, and our experience is that this is indeed what happens

So if you stop avoiding fares, engage with them when they contact you, and cooperate, they will almost certainly offer you the opportunity to settle and avoid being prosecuted.

However, it will cost you quite a lot of money, and they're likely to want to be paid quickly once they make you an offer

 

[bib3412]

I'm assuming you've been stopped by someone working for GWR.

If so, have a read of the prosecution policy on their website - they say they try and avoid prosecution wherever possible, and our experience is that this is indeed what happens

So if you stop avoiding fares, engage with them when they contact you, and cooperate, they will almost certainly offer you the opportunity to settle and avoid being prosecuted.

However, it will cost you quite a lot of money, and they're likely to want to be paid quickly once they make you an offer

Hi thankyou for your reply! You don't realize how much this assurity means to me even if it isn't gurranteed. If it takes two months for the notice i can work and save up over a 1000 to 1500 and pay instantly as soon as i get a settlement offer! What i want to ask is will they directly send me the amount so i can get it done with or with what I have been reading on this forum, first they reach out after 2ish months to ask for my side of the story and then after i reply then later they issue the settlement fee after a while. I ask as I want to settle this as soon as possible, I have already pre-booked all the tickets I will be travelling on for the next two months and will never commit such a shameful act again and want to close this case as soon as possible!

 

[SuspectUsual]

Hi thankyou for your reply! You don't realize how much this assurity means to me even if it isn't gurranteed. If it takes two months for the notice i can work and save up over a 1000 to 1500 and pay instantly as soon as i get a settlement offer! What i want to ask is will they directly send me the amount so i can get it done with or with what I have been reading on this forum, first they reach out after 2ish months to ask for my side of the story and then after i reply then later they issue the settlement fee after a while. I ask as I want to settle this as soon as possible, I have already pre-booked all the tickets I will be travelling on for the next two months and will never commit such a shameful act again and want to close this case as soon as possible!

As well as reading the GWR prosecutions policy, it might be a good idea to search for other recent GWR cases on this forum, as it'll give you an idea (not guaranteed though) of how long they're taking to get in touch once they catch people.

 

[bib3412]

As well as reading the GWR prosecutions policy, it might be a good idea to search for other recent GWR cases on this forum, as it'll give you an idea (not guaranteed though) of how long they're taking to get in touch once they catch people.

Thank you very much sir! I had a read of all their policies and strategies regarding these cases but I thought what i did was short-ticketing, now i realize its much severe doughnutting, So I am reading this forum of similar cases as I wait for other people to share their opinion on this. I will keep this thread updated to the best of my ability as soon as I get any updates, and I thankyou for your prompt adivce you have been a great help!

 

[MarlowDonkey]

Thank you very much sir! I had a read of all their policies and strategies regarding these cases but I thought what i did was short-ticketing, now i realize its much severe doughnutting

Doughnutting and short ticketing are the same thing really, short ticketing being where one of the stations doesn't have barriers. What you seem to admit to in your original post is repay fraud as you say that you were able to exit the station without the ticket being scanned and thus you could subsequently reclaim it. If GWR offer an out of court settlement it would likely include the cost of Anytime Single tickets between Slough and Reading and back with no credit for fares actually paid. They might also want compensation for the invalid reclaims.

 

[Skimpot flyer]

The doughnutting was ill-advised, of course. But claiming refunds too was particularly naughty.
Fortunately for you, they won’t be deducting the sums you’ve already paid for the short tickets from the sum they will calculate that you owe. No credit will be given for those.

Having taken a look at fares for the tickets you bought vs the correct ticket, I’m baffled why you would take such a risk to ‘save’ so little each time.