Thameslink Prosecution

[harrythedog21]

Hi all,

I'm new here so please excuse any formatting errors etc. I was hoping for some advice on an intent to prosecute letter I received as a result of avoiding my fare back in April.

I began working in London in March this year and started off by paying my fares every day I went in. I became annoyed with the amount it costs me to travel to and from London everyday and began to avoid paying my fare. I was caught by a revenue protector towards the end of March and was fined, which I paid immediately as I had no legs to stand on here. After this incident, I should have just began to pay my fare but or some reason, I decided a few weeks later to not pay my fare again and was caught by another revenue protector on 11/04/25.

A year before this, I had attended college in London, and was issued a notice by a revenue protector while accidentally sitting in the first class carriage of a Great Northern train (no seat markings to identify the fact it was a first class carriage). I was issued another fine by a man at the barriers as I had lost my ticket. I purchased a short ticket (less than I had paid that morning to get to London) and was unaware the time of purchase flags up when manually scanned. He issued me with a PCN but despite showing him my bank statement to prove I had paid for the ticket I had lost, he issued the fine anyway. I appealed both of these cases but had to pay the fines regardless. I had a response to the first one and they said it was still my fault (which was baffling to me as there were zero markings other than two 10cmx10cm squares with a 1 inside it to indicate a first class carriage) and the second one I received no response before the grace period was up and paid the full fine despite actually having a ticket. Both times here I had a physical ticket I purchased from the machines outside of the station.

I mention these cases because, the revenue protector said they operate on a three-strikes-and-you're-out policy. As this was my fourth time being caught, he said the court will be in touch and would like to hear my side of the story. This was back in April and just last week (08/08/25) I received a letter in the post with their intention to prosecute me. I have a few questions regarding this:

- After researching I learnt that you could contact the company directly (in this case Thameslink) and ask to settle out-of-court. I was not made aware of this, should I have contacted them before?

- As I never received an official response to my genuine loss of a ticket case, does this affect my case in any way? Like does the strike count if they never bothered to respond to my side of the story?

- Will they even refer to these past events? I'm not sure if the prosecution they refer to here is for my entire time I have been taking the train or just the one event on the 11th of April

- Overall, how screwed am I? Do you think they would want to settle out of court, or will they assume I'm a serial fare dodger due to my past history?

Sorry for the ramble, I am very anxious about this and it's been on my mind since April. I feel as though I should have acted sooner. I am genuinely remorseful for my actions and have paid every single train fare since this took place. I'm young and inexperienced in these types of things. I am thinking of hiring a solicitor to help with my response to the letter, do you think this is a good idea?

Anyway, any advice would be appreciated, thank you for your time.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi all,

I'm new here so please excuse any formatting errors etc. I was hoping for some advice on an intent to prosecute letter I received as a result of avoiding my fare back in April.

I began working in London in March this year and started off by paying my fares every day I went in. I became annoyed with the amount it costs me to travel to and from London everyday and began to avoid paying my fare. I was caught by a revenue protector towards the end of March and was fined, which I paid immediately as I had no legs to stand on here. After this incident, I should have just began to pay my fare but or some reason, I decided a few weeks later to not pay my fare again and was caught by another revenue protector on 11/04/25.

A year before this, I had attended college in London, and was issued a notice by a revenue protector while accidentally sitting in the first class carriage of a Great Northern train (no seat markings to identify the fact it was a first class carriage). I was issued another fine by a man at the barriers as I had lost my ticket. I purchased a short ticket (less than I had paid that morning to get to London) and was unaware the time of purchase flags up when manually scanned. He issued me with a PCN but despite showing him my bank statement to prove I had paid for the ticket I had lost, he issued the fine anyway. I appealed both of these cases but had to pay the fines regardless. I had a response to the first one and they said it was still my fault (which was baffling to me as there were zero markings other than two 10cmx10cm squares with a 1 inside it to indicate a first class carriage) and the second one I received no response before the grace period was up and paid the full fine despite actually having a ticket. Both times here I had a physical ticket I purchased from the machines outside of the station.

I mention these cases because, the revenue protector said they operate on a three-strikes-and-you're-out policy. As this was my fourth time being caught, he said the court will be in touch and would like to hear my side of the story. This was back in April and just last week (08/08/25) I received a letter in the post with their intention to prosecute me. I have a few questions regarding this:

- After researching I learnt that you could contact the company directly (in this case Thameslink) and ask to settle out-of-court. I was not made aware of this, should I have contacted them before?

- As I never received an official response to my genuine loss of a ticket case, does this affect my case in any way? Like does the strike count if they never bothered to respond to my side of the story?

- Will they even refer to these past events? I'm not sure if the prosecution they refer to here is for my entire time I have been taking the train or just the one event on the 11th of April

- Overall, how screwed am I? Do you think they would want to settle out of court, or will they assume I'm a serial fare dodger due to my past history?

Sorry for the ramble, I am very anxious about this and it's been on my mind since April. I feel as though I should have acted sooner. I am genuinely remorseful for my actions and have paid every single train fare since this took place. I'm young and inexperienced in these types of things. I am thinking of hiring a solicitor to help with my response to the letter, do you think this is a good idea?

Anyway, any advice would be appreciated, thank you for your time.

Welcome.

Do not contact them before they contact you. So there would have been nothing you could have done since April really.

No idea if they operate three strikes policy you suggest, but your repeated evasion and ticketing errors will mean you will certainly have to put the effort into trying to obtain an out of court settlement instead of them prosecuting, but you will get advice here on how best to go about that objective which should be your priority now.

Since they have now written to you please upload a copy of their letter with your personal details blocked out. Then people can best advise you how to respond depending on what they are saying to you.

Hiring a solicitor will cost you around £750+ and you may not need one at this stage. If you opt for that however be sure to use one experienced in rail fare evasion work.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Aug 2025 ==

@harrythedog21 - further to my previous post here is a recent thread where although things are different I copied soem useful advice for the person to consider and to use to draft up their reply - which you can also see on that thread.

Obviously what you send needs to relate to what the Railway company have sent you (which is why it helps if you share it) but the below may be of help to you

see

Thameslink Fare Evasion

Hi all, I'm hoping to get some advice please. I have been issued with a letter/ notification of intention to prosecute from Govia Thameslink. I failed to produce a valid ticket from Stevenage to Finsbury Park in April. I had a valid ticket from Huntingdon- Stevenage but not for the section I...

www.railforums.co.uk

I note you have had the letter from the Railway company so you need to get working on your reply ASAP. Although it says it is an intention to prosecute letter, you can treat it as an invitation to apologise and ask if they will let you resolve the matter without prosecution

to help you I am copying a post from another forum member when giving advice on a different case - but you can use what applies

• When you have drafted up your reply post it here for people to check it for you before you send it
• When you send your reply send it tracked post so you can prove it got to them if you need to, and keep copies of everything
• Look at some other threads where you will find plenty of examples of the sorts of things to write
• Keep it brief and to the point, polite and formal
• If they are not at this stage asking you about previous instances of evasion you do not need to talk about that - but avoid saying anything that suggests this was a one off as it was not (you have received previous sanctions in the form of Penalty Fares etc)

Here's a framework you can use to write back to the railway company.

Paragraph 1: Acknowledge and Address the Incident

• Start by thanking them for their letter and clearly stating the ref number on any paperwork.
• Immediately identify the specific incident they're referring to, including the date of travel and the stations involved – also use any reference number they have issued on any paperwork you have
• State directly that you are writing in response to this incident.

Paragraph 2: Accept Responsibility for the Specific Incident

• Clearly and unequivocally state that you fully accept responsibility for not having a valid ticket for your entire journey on that specific day.

Paragraph 3: Express Remorse and Impact

• State that you deeply regret your actions.
• Make it clear you have learned a lesson and will not be doing this again (they want to know you have changed your ways)

Paragraph 4: Request a Settlement

• Clearly state that you hope to resolve this matter through an out-of-court settlement. This signals your intention to avoid court proceedings.
• Confirm your willingness to pay any outstanding fare owed and to cover their administration costs.

 

[shabranraja134]

Hi
Have you posted your response?

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi
Have you posted your response?

It’s not even clear if the op has been back to check the advice. Hopefully they will do.

If you need help yourself do start a new thread so people can advise. See the guidance posts at the top of this part of the forum.