I ve done something really bad and i got caught on friday.
i have had this disability railcard for ages now, and some time ago when i was in a bad place my railcard ran out and instead of renewing it i think i changed it to 2018 instead of what it was (i cant remember what it was)
i havnt really thought anything of it, i dont really use trains much so it was never a problem. I travelled to manchester airport to go on a holiday to cat sit in zurich and the ticket man asked for my card and i gave him it and he said id defaced it. I said i had yes and i was very sorry. He took a photo of it etc and asked questions and i said what will happen and he said ill get a letter within 21 days and its very serious etc etc. i am so scared what wil happen. what will happen guys?
It is not possible to say with certainty what will happen. Defacing a Railcard makes any accompanying Railcard discounted ticket invalid, and thus you would have boarded the train without a valid ticket, which is an offence under the Railway Byelaws. Altering (or attempting to alter) the expiry date of the Railcard is also an offence under the Railway Byelaws, and potentially under various Fraud Acts if fraud was suspected. And obtaining a Railcard discounted ticket when you knew you did not have and/or did not plan to have the required accompanying Railcard could be seen as evidence of intent to avoid payment of the correct fare (which would be the undiscounted Railcard), which is an offence under the Regulation of Railways Act.
I make the distinction of the laws under which an offence is committed because, if this matter proceeds to Court, the significance of any conviction and the severity of the sentence will depend on the law under which you are prosecuted. A Railway Byelaw conviction would not normally incur a criminal record that registers on the Police National Computer (PNC). A Regulation of Railways Act conviction would. The sentence (fine) for either of these two is, in the case of a first offence, the same at 1-2× your relevant weekly income, depending on the circumstances of the offence, with a maximum fine of £1000. The former would instantly be 'spent' for the purposes of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act whereas the second would be 'spent' after 1 year.
A conviction under the Fraud Acts would be more serious and could result in a greater fine and/or a custodial sentence. However, in the case of a one-off offence it is less likely that this would be used, since the railway has a number of laws (as above) which capture what you have done more accurately, and the relevant case law etc. supports a prosecution more in that direction. So it is very unlikely that you will go to prison if this if your first criminal offence.
Despite all the above, and depending on the train company involved, it may be possible to settle this matter before it reaches Court by means of an administrative payment to the company, to pay for their costs in investigating the matter, plus the fare 'avoided'/'evaded' plus a certain amount of compensation. Some train companies are more willing than others to settle, hence it would be useful to know which one is involved
edit: I see you posted that it was TransPennine Express whilst I was typing my response!. In any case, if the matter is passed onto a third party agency such as Transport Investigations Limited then these do not usually agree to settle.
All the above having been said - your life is not over. You have committed an offence of some description and you clearly recognise that you have done wrong. That is a step further than many 'fare evaders' go and so you are already on the right track. Good luck.
