Prosecution for not tapping in

[AlterEgo]

Okay, but I have no intention of ripping off the system, I started at chelsfield and finish at chelsfield, surely it charge me fir a travel card that day? To get honest I don't really know, wish I bought a simple travel card with the total money I had on the card.

I offered to pay for my fare too.

The railway doesn't know that you had no intention of ripping off the system. Importantly, the railway doesn't have to prove your intent either.

As has been explained several times, you did not touch in and the offence was complete at that point.

 

[MichaelAMW]

I don't think anyone has said you did it on purpose, but there was no guarantee that you would be "penalised anyway" as you may have finished your journey at an ungated station and not touched out. You need to accept that whether by intention or accident your failure to touch in meant you had no ticket, and if you managed not to touch in you could just as easily have managed not to touch out.

I agree with this. Nobody has said they want the book thrown at you. After all, you've failed to pay a fare, not robbed a bank. However, at the other end of the scale, you have failed to accept the good advice on here that forgetting or failing to tap in as you are required to do (i) means that you didn't have a ticket and (ii) is not as trivial as you appear to think it is. If you could just pay up when challenged then nobody would buy a ticket as they would never be out of pocket; the fact of the penalties being harsher than that is to protect the interests of both the railway and other passengers.

 

[Timrud]

It has been mentioned previously but you really need to understand the legal concept of strict liability.

It holds no relevance what your intention was, or that you didn't have a malace afore thought, the simple fact that you have not paid renders the offence complete.

I'm really not sure what legal argument this firm of specialists you have found will advance. But my advice, in line with the other advice you have received is for you try and minimise the penalty you will receive rather than trying to fight the whole prosecution.

 

[daodao]

The railway doesn't know that you had no intention of ripping off the system. Importantly, the railway doesn't have to prove your intent either.

As has been explained several times, you did not touch in and the offence was complete at that point.

While an offence has been committed, the system of tapping in to pay for a journey, without a barrier, as used in London (and probably elsewhere in future), is risky for the traveller as due to absent-mindedness, he/she may inadvertently forget to do so. Problems may also occur if he/she thinks that the tapping-in/out transaction has been registered but has not been due to an electronic/other fault, or if using an electronic-only ticket, because devices are not 100% reliable. If an offence occurs, the consequences of inadvertently acquiring a criminal conviction can be dire in some walks of life.

Such issues are much less likely to occur if one has to purchase/present an actual ticket.

 

[jon0844]

I would agree that open gates can make it very easy to forget to tap in on out, especially by someone who might be used to carrying paper tickets.

Failing to tap out is obviously less risky.

I can imagine many people genuinely forgetting on DLR, although bet a lot of people do so deliberately.

 

[najaB]

While an offence has been committed, the system of tapping in to pay for a journey, without a barrier, as used in London (and probably elsewhere in future), is risky for the traveller as due to absent-mindedness, he/she may inadvertently forget to do so.

I agree (to a point) but, considering that the OP has two previous incidents of ticketing irregularities, perhaps they should take additional care to ensure that their taps in/out register correctly.

Problems may also occur if he/she thinks that the tapping-in/out transaction has been registered but has not been due to an electronic/other fault, or if using an electronic-only ticket, because devices are not 100% reliable. If an offence occurs, the consequences of inadvertently acquiring a criminal conviction can be dire in some walks of life.

This is precisely why TfL (and TOCs within the Oyster area) are more likely to issue a penalty fare than proceed with a prosecution. It appears that the OP has had two such PF issued previously.

Such issues are much less likely to occur if one has to purchase/present an actual ticket.

Given the OP's apparent difficulty with Oyster, perhaps that is something they should consider for the future.