Report for prosecution

[AnonP]

I took my journey from Ash Station (no barriers) to London Waterloo. As I'm sure you've seen before, I got a ticket from Vauxhall to Waterloo.

I was pulled up by an SWR officer who said my ticket had not been validated (e ticket) and I stuck to my story of coming from vauxhall, which he didn't push much further. I wasn't told what was happening and was simply handed a prosecution notice.

I understand what I've done is an offence, I'm a student so money is quite tight in the best of times. I'm sure as with everyone else, I would greatly appreciate an out of court settlement even if it will be an expensive (painful) lesson to pay.

I looked through my records and I've been doing this roughly for the past two months. I see from others that the general steps are to wait for the letter and reply forward, I'm sure they will look through my train line records and see it. My intention right now is to come clean when they send me the letter.

My questions right now prior to the letter is, once I get the letter. Should I admit to how many times I've done this? Am I able to email them a reply rather than send a letter?

I would greatly appreciate advice once I get the letter. Its certainly nerve wracking and have certainly learnt my lesson regarding this.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

My questions right now prior to the letter is, once I get the letter. Should I admit to how many times I've done this?

That depends on what the letter tells you: you're entitled not to self-incriminate, but also you should not lie. So if the letter only asks you about one occasion, you only need to tell them about that one occasion.

Am I able to email them a reply rather than send a letter?

That depends on what the letter tells you: if it offers an email address then you will be able to reply to that: if it doesn't then you won't.

It might be worth finding out beforehand if anyone has a laser printer you can use if it turns out that you need to send a paper response: unless you have the world's most legible handwriting we normally suggest typing your reply to make it easier for whoever at the railway to understand what you are trying to say.

 

[WesternLancer]

I took my journey from Ash Station (no barriers) to London Waterloo. As I'm sure you've seen before, I got a ticket from Vauxhall to Waterloo.

I was pulled up by an SWR officer who said my ticket had not been validated (e ticket) and I stuck to my story of coming from vauxhall, which he didn't push much further. I wasn't told what was happening and was simply handed a prosecution notice.

I understand what I've done is an offence, I'm a student so money is quite tight in the best of times. I'm sure as with everyone else, I would greatly appreciate an out of court settlement even if it will be an expensive (painful) lesson to pay.

I looked through my records and I've been doing this roughly for the past two months. I see from others that the general steps are to wait for the letter and reply forward, I'm sure they will look through my train line records and see it. My intention right now is to come clean when they send me the letter.

My questions right now prior to the letter is, once I get the letter. Should I admit to how many times I've done this? Am I able to email them a reply rather than send a letter?

I would greatly appreciate advice once I get the letter. Its certainly nerve wracking and have certainly learnt my lesson regarding this.

Welcome.

When you say you’ve been doing the short ticketing for two months how many days a month or week?

Also is there something you can now do to reduce your fares legitimately eg season ticket or railcard. If so do it. It’s something you can say you have done to change your ways. That is what they want you to do so it can help achieve a settlement potentially.

Ref your questions, advice here is usually

1) reply about what they ask. If they ask about history of evasion then yes, if not then you don’t need to tell them. But do not lie eg saying “I’ve never done this before “

Be aware that they will almost certainly check your on line ticket buying records so will see any thing that looks suspicious.

2) this varies between rail companies but the letter they send will state how they want you to reply. You may be able to find other threads to SWR with examples of their letters you can read to get the idea.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Mar 2025 ==

Vital thing is that you get their letter to start with. Did you give a postal address that you can get post at over coming weeks and months and you’re not leaving eg for uni hols or end of term.

They may possibly e mail you so watch your in box and spam. Especially any email address linked to your on line ticket buying account.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

SWR will normally offer an out of court settlement for this sort of thing, as long as you co-operate with them and haven't come tot heir attention before. As noted above, they will write to you in the next few weeks, saying they have received a report, are considering prosecuting and asking for you version of events before they decide how to proceed.

When the letter arrives, post a redacted copy of it in this thread along with your draft reply and we can proof read ot for you.

You aren't required to incriminate yourself but SWR almost always audit online ticket purchase history, in fact their initial letter can take quite a time to arrive because they will usually audit your account before writing to you.

 

[AnonP]

That depends on what the letter tells you: you're entitled not to self-incriminate, but also you should not lie. So if the letter only asks you about one occasion, you only need to tell them about that one occasion.


That depends on what the letter tells you: if it offers an email address then you will be able to reply to that: if it doesn't then you won't.

It might be worth finding out beforehand if anyone has a laser printer you can use if it turns out that you need to send a paper response: unless you have the world's most legible handwriting we normally suggest typing your reply to make it easier for whoever at the railway to understand what you are trying to say.

Thank you for your response, I do have a printer so I can print one out. It's probably a good idea considering my hand writing in the first place.

Welcome.

When you say you’ve been doing the short ticketing for two months how many days a month or week?

Also is there something you can now do to reduce your fares legitimately eg season ticket or railcard. If so do it. It’s something you can say you have done to change your ways. That is what they want you to do so it can help achieve a settlement potentially.

Ref your questions, advice here is usually

1) reply about what they ask. If they ask about history of evasion then yes, if not then you don’t need to tell them. But do not lie eg saying “I’ve never done this before “

Be aware that they will almost certainly check your on line ticket buying records so will see any thing that looks suspicious.

2) this varies between rail companies but the letter they send will state how they want you to reply. You may be able to find other threads to SWR with examples of their letters you can read to get the idea.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Mar 2025 ==

Vital thing is that you get their letter to start with. Did you give a postal address that you can get post at over coming weeks and months and you’re not leaving eg for uni hols or end of term.

They may possibly e mail you so watch your in box and spam. Especially any email address linked to your on line ticket buying account.

Thank you for your response, it was around 3 times a week and in full honestly a hand full of times (being maybe less than 6-8 times over the span of 5 months) . I did look into buying a season ticket however I looked at how much I would pay. Still buying a ticket daily seems to be a cheaper option.

Thank you for that suggestion I will give that a go and read through!

Welcome to the forum!

SWR will normally offer an out of court settlement for this sort of thing, as long as you co-operate with them and haven't come tot heir attention before. As noted above, they will write to you in the next few weeks, saying they have received a report, are considering prosecuting and asking for you version of events before they decide how to proceed.

When the letter arrives, post a redacted copy of it in this thread along with your draft reply and we can proof read ot for you.

You aren't required to incriminate yourself but SWR almost always audit online ticket purchase history, in fact their initial letter can take quite a time to arrive because they will usually audit your account before writing to you.

Hello Hadders, thank you for your response. I definitely will, I guess it's just the waiting game now.

Im also wondering because I did live in London for a year. During that time I sometimes did take short journeys and bought tickets which might have seemed a little suspicious ie Clapham to vauxhall or other such short journeys. These were legitimate and I bought a single ticket as I just wanted to track my outgoing expenditure then and there rather than waiting for the Tfl charge. How should I reply to this up if they ask?

Regardless, I'm really appreciative of everyone taking the time to reply. I'll keep updating you guys regarding what happens. Thank you!

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you for your response, I do have a printer so I can print one out. It's probably a good idea considering my hand writing in the first place.


Thank you for your response, it was around 3 times a week and in full honestly a hand full of times (being maybe less than 6-8 times over the span of 5 months) . I did look into buying a season ticket however I looked at how much I would pay. Still buying a ticket daily seems to be a cheaper option.

Thank you for that suggestion I will give that a go and read through!



Hello Hadders, thank you for your response. I definitely will, I guess it's just the waiting game now.

Im also wondering because I did live in London for a year. During that time I sometimes did take short journeys and bought tickets which might have seemed a little suspicious ie Clapham to vauxhall or other such short journeys. These were legitimate and I bought a single ticket as I just wanted to track my outgoing expenditure then and there rather than waiting for the Tfl charge. How should I reply to this up if they ask?

Regardless, I'm really appreciative of everyone taking the time to reply. I'll keep updating you guys regarding what happens. Thank you!

Ref season etc. yes I would probably not buy one if it doesn’t make financial sense to do so.

 

[John R]

Re the Clapham to Vauxhall tickets, if they were scanned through the gateline at both ends then there shouldn’t be a problem. It will become more problematic for you if they were only scanned at one end though.

 

[Hadders]

Im also wondering because I did live in London for a year. During that time I sometimes did take short journeys and bought tickets which might have seemed a little suspicious ie Clapham to vauxhall or other such short journeys. These were legitimate and I bought a single ticket as I just wanted to track my outgoing expenditure then and there rather than waiting for the Tfl charge. How should I reply to this up if they ask?

That does sound a but suspicious, these are the sort of journeys almost everyone does with contactless or Oyster because it's normally cheaper as well. The TfL charge comes through daily and shouldn't take any longer than purchasing a ticket through someone like Trainline. I agree with @John R that thsi shouldn't be an issue if the ticket was scanned on entry and exit.

 

[30907]

Im also wondering because I did live in London for a year. During that time I sometimes did take short journeys and bought tickets which might have seemed a little suspicious ie Clapham to vauxhall or other such short journeys. These were legitimate and I bought a single ticket as I just wanted to track my outgoing expenditure then and there rather than waiting for the Tfl charge. How should I reply to this up if they ask?

Tell them that you lived in the area and that the journeys were made as ticketed.

 

[AlterEgo]

Im also wondering because I did live in London for a year. During that time I sometimes did take short journeys and bought tickets which might have seemed a little suspicious ie Clapham to vauxhall or other such short journeys. These were legitimate and I bought a single ticket as I just wanted to track my outgoing expenditure then and there rather than waiting for the Tfl charge. How should I reply to this up if they ask?

Truthfully, of course, but they are unlikely to believe someone caught red handed ticketing and who admits to doing it for two months didn’t do it before either. If you can substantiate these journeys with evidence - particularly if the tickets were always scanned both ends of the trip, or if you can prove your former address - you should gather that evidence.

 

[Haywain]

During that time I sometimes did take short journeys and bought tickets which might have seemed a little suspicious ie Clapham to vauxhall or other such short journeys. These were legitimate and I bought a single ticket as I just wanted to track my outgoing expenditure then and there rather than waiting for the Tfl charge.

It's difficult to believe that anyone would do that rather than pay the lower fare using contactless or Oyster, especially as the latter allows tracking of payments on the go.

 

[AnonP]

Hello all, thank you again for your replies. I certainly agree it looks suspect, I'm not trying to excuse my actions. It's something I understand and accept is wrong and I am at fault. I will keep that within consideration and I'll gather the details of where I had previously stayed.

I also wanted to mention, I looked at the persecution notice again. It shows that the agent has put down the wrong date of birth, despite me showing him my ID. He did look rather confused at me and asked if this was the first time I had been pulled up. It certainly was, I assumed he might have been trying to attach me to maybe something on their system as I have an account with SWR. I see they have a email for corresponding with their team, should I mention or clarify this now?

I am grateful again for your advice within the matter.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

It shows that the agent has put down the wrong date of birth, despite me showing him my ID.

This is nothing to worry about - or to work in your favour. The main reason to take your date of birth is to distinguish you from anyone else of the same name and address (and names do get passed down generations - I knew someone who was Joe Bloggs VIII). So as long as you don't share a name and address with your parent or child (or aunt/uncle, niece/nephew and so on) what they have should be good enough to identify you. The flip side is that an incorrect date of birth won't let you claim that they must be looking for someone else.

 

[AnonP]

This is nothing to worry about - or to work in your favour. The main reason to take your date of birth is to distinguish you from anyone else of the same name and address (and names do get passed down generations - I knew someone who was Joe Bloggs VIII). So as long as you don't share a name and address with your parent or child (or aunt/uncle, niece/nephew and so on) what they have should be good enough to identify you. The flip side is that an incorrect date of birth won't let you claim that they must be looking for someone else.

Thank you for your response, it's okay I wouldn't want to do anything that would make the outcome worse than it could be. I'll keep that in mind and carry on waiting for the letter.

I would also like to ask, I am pretty anxious about the likelihood of this tk go to trial. What are the repercussions of such? I understand that the bylaws are different in how they work to other criminal offences. I would just like to know incase for the worst case scenario. Trying to keep it together while studying is seeming to be a difficult task.

 

[AlterEgo]

Thank you for your response, it's okay I wouldn't want to do anything that would make the outcome worse than it could be. I'll keep that in mind and carry on waiting for the letter.

I would also like to ask, I am pretty anxious about the likelihood of this tk go to trial. What are the repercussions of such? I understand that the bylaws are different in how they work to other criminal offences. I would just like to know incase for the worst case scenario. Trying to keep it together while studying is seeming to be a difficult task.

It won’t go to court, they will settle if you are honest and apologetic about the extent of the offending once they write to you.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you for your response, it's okay I wouldn't want to do anything that would make the outcome worse than it could be. I'll keep that in mind and carry on waiting for the letter.

I would also like to ask, I am pretty anxious about the likelihood of this tk go to trial. What are the repercussions of such? I understand that the bylaws are different in how they work to other criminal offences. I would just like to know incase for the worst case scenario. Trying to keep it together while studying is seeming to be a difficult task.

In the unlikely event it did go to court there is a fine formula that would be used to set your fine (the court’s punishment for guilty verdict) plus costs. Explained on other threads. It’s related to income if the correct court paperwork completed.

But it’s the criminal record most people would really rather avoid.

But you are a good way off getting to that so don’t worry about that at this stage.

 

[AnonP]

Thank you again for your response, I will keep you posted on what the letter says. I am incredibly grateful for the advice given.