Told I am being prosecuted

[curly]

I thought I had purchased two single tickets, one for a journey into London yesterday and one for a journey home this morning. Unfortunately I had made a mistake and only purchased the outgoing and I didn't have a return.

I was walking up the train so that I would be getting off the train near where there stairs are at the station, to leave the station, and an inspector stopped me and said I was walking away from them when I saw them.
He asked for my tickets and I showed him the one from yesterday as I thought I had both there.
He had me get my contactless card up on my phone, and scanned yesterday's ticket and was saying I could pay for today's ticket with my contactless which I tried to do.
He didn't tell tell me what the contactless payment he was taking would be, and if I was being fined right then, the payment isn't yet showing as gone from my account, which is usual for payments.
We were at my stop and I asked if we could please finish this on the platform and apologised.
I got off the train thinking he was following me but he just said through the doors he was sending it all to the prosecution department as I walked away from him as I didn't have a ticket.

I completely understand that I am in the wrong for not having a ticket, it was a genuine mistake and has never happened before, nonetheless I accept is my responsibility to make sure I have a valid ticket and I didn't have one.

Can someone please advise me on what will happen. I imagine he can get all my details from my contactless card to prosecute me. I'm very anxious and this is really upset me although I accept I was in the wrong.

This was on the Great Northern Line, with yesterday's ticket, and pretty much all my ticket history purchased via uber.

Thank you for any advice.

 

[rmHawk765]

Can someone please advise me on what will happen. I imagine he can get all my details from my contactless card to prosecute me. I'm very anxious and this is really upset me although I accept I was in the wrong.

GTR is generally happy to settle out of court if you do not have a past history of fare evading and being caught, as you can see on this forum. Therefore, there is not a high likelihood you will actually face prosecution.

That said, the use of contactless is very odd, certainly not something I've seen before, and an inspector simply cannot make you pay any sum without even telling you what it is or what it is for. Generally inspectors will not ask for any sort of payment.

 

[WesternLancer]

I thought I had purchased two single tickets, one for a journey into London yesterday and one for a journey home this morning. Unfortunately I had made a mistake and only purchased the outgoing and I didn't have a return.

I was walking up the train so that I would be getting off the train near where there stairs are at the station, to leave the station, and an inspector stopped me and said I was walking away from them when I saw them.
He asked for my tickets and I showed him the one from yesterday as I thought I had both there.
He had me get my contactless card up on my phone, and scanned yesterday's ticket and was saying I could pay for today's ticket with my contactless which I tried to do.
He didn't tell tell me what the contactless payment he was taking would be, and if I was being fined right then, the payment isn't yet showing as gone from my account, which is usual for payments.
We were at my stop and I asked if we could please finish this on the platform and apologised.
I got off the train thinking he was following me but he just said through the doors he was sending it all to the prosecution department as I walked away from him as I didn't have a ticket.

I completely understand that I am in the wrong for not having a ticket, it was a genuine mistake and has never happened before, nonetheless I accept is my responsibility to make sure I have a valid ticket and I didn't have one.

Can someone please advise me on what will happen. I imagine he can get all my details from my contactless card to prosecute me. I'm very anxious and this is really upset me although I accept I was in the wrong.

This was on the Great Northern Line, with yesterday's ticket, and pretty much all my ticket history purchased via uber.

Thank you for any advice.

Welcome.
If you follow the advice you get here you can almost certainly avoid prosecution.*

But as mentioned above I think we need to understand what’s happening with your contactless card.
There will be experts here on contactless payments for rail fares who can help with this. Is your contactless payment card registered with the railway (assuming that is possible like I believe it is with Transport for London) so that you can see what fares and travel is being taken from it?

*Edit - but advice on the forum is often given that if you have been stopped for ticket irregularities before then it's a good idea to be 100% certain of having the correct ticket on future occasions, to the best of your ability.

 

[rmHawk765]

There will be experts here on contactless payments for rail fares who can help with this. Is your contactless payment card registered with the railway (assuming that is possible like I believe it is with Transport for London) so that you can see what fares and travel is being taken from it?

I take it that they were not actually using contactless payment for travel, rather the inspector asked them to pay for something using their contactless card.

 

[WesternLancer]

I take it that they were not actually using contactless payment for travel, rather the inspector asked them to pay for something using their contactless card.

Aha. Thanks

Assume this Inspector was in uniform/ if not showed some ID?

OP were you given any paperwork after being stopped and questioned by any chance?

 

[Royston Vasey]

I thought I had purchased two single tickets, one for a journey into London yesterday and one for a journey home this morning. Unfortunately I had made a mistake and only purchased the outgoing and I didn't have a return.

I was walking up the train so that I would be getting off the train near where there stairs are at the station, to leave the station, and an inspector stopped me and said I was walking away from them when I saw them.
He asked for my tickets and I showed him the one from yesterday as I thought I had both there.
He had me get my contactless card up on my phone, and scanned yesterday's ticket and was saying I could pay for today's ticket with my contactless which I tried to do.
He didn't tell tell me what the contactless payment he was taking would be, and if I was being fined right then, the payment isn't yet showing as gone from my account, which is usual for payments.
We were at my stop and I asked if we could please finish this on the platform and apologised.
I got off the train thinking he was following me but he just said through the doors he was sending it all to the prosecution department as I walked away from him as I didn't have a ticket.

I completely understand that I am in the wrong for not having a ticket, it was a genuine mistake and has never happened before, nonetheless I accept is my responsibility to make sure I have a valid ticket and I didn't have one.

Can someone please advise me on what will happen. I imagine he can get all my details from my contactless card to prosecute me. I'm very anxious and this is really upset me although I accept I was in the wrong.

This was on the Great Northern Line, with yesterday's ticket, and pretty much all my ticket history purchased via uber.

Thank you for any advice.

You've been on the forum a while and seem to know what you're doing with tickets, but some of your behaviours are quite similar to the actions a fare evader may take. Walk down to one end of the train with RPIs on board, offer to pay when challenged, alight half way through an RPI interaction. I am sure in this case it was an honest oversight.

When did you realise you had no ticket? What was your journey and specifically where and how did you board? There are plenty of ungated stations on Great Northern but if was gated they'll ask how you how you got through the barrier.

You posted last month about buying singles ad hoc and travelling from Knebworth to Kings Cross and return. Was your origin Kings Cross?

I expect they'll look through your Uber ticket purchasing history in case there are further one way journeys, but I sense that may not be the case.

 

[curly]

Thank you for your responses.

The mobile ticket I had yesterday was Knebworth to Kings Cross, on this occasion I boarded at Finsbury Park although the inspector didn't ask me where I boarded. It would be fair for him to assume I boarded at King's Cross.
The gates were open. If they were closed I would have realised then that I didn't have a ticket.
I got off at Knebworth.

There is only one other one-way transaction I can think of and that was King's Cross to Knebworth a couple of weeks ago.
The rest of my tickets are daily singles both ways.

He was in uniform, he didn't show me ID but he had a lanyard with id around his neck.

I realised I didn't have a ticket when I showed the wrong one and so there was just one single instead of two.
Because we were going through tunnels it also took a long time to load and he kept asking me to show my ticket.
I felt I was trying to but when it did load and he scanned it I realised didn't have one and I was actually trying to load the wrong one
I then panic ed.


I don't think I actually offered to pay all though I definitely would have, if I thought it would help resolve this.
He was asking if I had id and I said yes.
I was going to give it him but then he said open my contactless, I asked if I could use my railcard and he never replied to that but was just taking the contactless payment ( or my details via contactless if thats possible)
I definitely don't think it was a person impersonating an inspector, I think he was genuine.
The contactless payment I was making was via my phone rather than handing him a physical card.
I don't think my card is registered with TFL, but there is a possibility it is.
My card multiple payment methods are registered with uber which is where I normally buy my tickets online.
It currently hasn't shown as anything coming out of my account but I know this can take a few days.
I was not given any paperwork of any kind, or asked to sign anything.

What will my fine be like If I can can avoid prosecution.
I am having anxiety and I am.very angry at myself.

 

[Kite159]

The inspector might have been using something like a revenue inspection device for contactless payments*, which adds a marker to the card used so that if it hadn't been touched in at the time of inspection, a "Failed Inspection Charge" is charged by TfL on behalf of the operator.

I guess all you can do is wait until overnight if you get an extra charge from TfL on the card you used.

 

[Haywain]

You could easily check your account for payments which will reveal whether you have been charged and, if you have, might reveal what the charge is for. At worst, this should show up tomorrow morning.

 

[Royston Vasey]

I am very curious as to what he was charging on contactless and what it was for. Was he selling you a ticket? Charging you an on the spot penalty fare?

Was it definitely a payment? You were inside the new contactless zones so it is more likely that he was just checking if you had tapped in or not.

I remember the days on WAGN and FCC when travellers were so used to the very occasional nature of ticket inspections that they would evade/short the fare and when an inspector boarded, they just casually held out a £20 note ready for the penalty fare - shows how long ago it was - and got on with their journey with no further questions asked. How times have changed!

I wouldn't panic about fines. If they do write, GTR always engage if you do, and almost always offer a settlement. If your purchase history is basically clean you're practically certain to be able to settle out of court and I suspect for not a huge amount of money. You'll get all the help you need on here to get the best outcome when you get the letter.

 

[duffield]

...

Was it definitely a payment? You were inside the new contactless zones so it is more likely that he was just checking if you had tapped in or not.

...

If there was no amount mentioned, no ticket and no receipt involved, I don't see how it could be anything else apart from this.

 

[curly]

So far there's no charge showing up at all. I will keep checking though.


I expect the prosecution department will obtain my ID details from from the ticket he scanned from the day before or from my contactless card details stored in my phone, that I tapped on his device, and write to me to let me know what I need to do.

 

[blimmo]

If this was a contactless card check could the OP be charged a failed inspection charge as well as being reported for prosecution? Seems a bit harsh to claim that a traveller incorrectly failed to tap in if they never intended to tap in in the first place and only tapped on the inspector's device because they were asked to.

 

[curly]

If this was a contactless card check could the OP be charged a failed inspection charge as well as being reported for prosecution? Seems a bit harsh to claim that a traveller incorrectly failed to tap in if they never intended to tap in in the first place and only tapped on the inspector's device because they were asked to.

He did ask me if I had tapped in with with my contactless, I told him I hadn't as I thought I had a ticket.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 31 Jan 2026 ==

There is still no charge showing in my transactions.

Does anybody please have knowledge of the the time frame, for when I might receive
communication from the prosecution department.

They would need need to pull my my details from my bank or via uber where I purchase my train tickets.
Would it be via post or email?

Many thanks for your time and knowledge.

 

[WesternLancer]

He did ask me if I had tapped in with with my contactless, I told him I hadn't as I thought I had a ticket.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 31 Jan 2026 ==

There is still no charge showing in my transactions.

Does anybody please have knowledge of the the time frame, for when I might receive
communication from the prosecution department.

They would need need to pull my my details from my bank or via uber where I purchase my train tickets.
Would it be via post or email?

Many thanks for your time and knowledge.

GTR would be post but watch e mail and spam. Timescale could be as long as 8 to 12 weeks but maybe less.

 

[curly]

Good morning, just a quick update. I I have been been watching my email, spam and paper post, I have recieved no correspondance as yet.
It is 4 months since the incident.
(End of Jan 26).

Am I correct thinking if I don't hear anything for another three months I am unlikely to hear in the future?

I am still quite anxious about the situation, and do expect to hear from them soon, as my ticket was scanned (albeit not one valid for the jouney in question), so they will have my contact details and information via Uber.

I have seen the man who stopped me on the train and said he is reporting me for fraud, working on the gates a few times.
I expect he works on the gates and occasionally inspecting on the the trains, although although I haven't haven't seen him on a train since.
(I am not sure it would be a good idea to ask him if he is aware of the progress of my case.)

Thank you for this forum and all the time spent advising all of us.

 

[SECR 65]

We suspect GTR have a large backlog in their prosecutions department. Some people are being issued with SJPNs - basically saying they're going to court - when the 6 month prosecution deadline is almost up. It is still, usually, possible to obtain an out of court settlement having received an SJPN.

There is still time for them to send a standard Notice of Intention to Prosecute with a couple of months to go.

There is the possibility that you could contact them, but I will leave other members who are more experienced to consider the pros and cons of doing so.

 

[WesternLancer]

Good morning, just a quick update. I I have been been watching my email, spam and paper post, I have recieved no correspondance as yet.
It is 4 months since the incident.
(End of Jan 26).

Am I correct thinking if I don't hear anything for another three months I am unlikely to hear in the future?

I am still quite anxious about the situation, and do expect to hear from them soon, as my ticket was scanned (albeit not one valid for the jouney in question), so they will have my contact details and information via Uber.

I have seen the man who stopped me on the train and said he is reporting me for fraud, working on the gates a few times.
I expect he works on the gates and occasionally inspecting on the the trains, although although I haven't haven't seen him on a train since.
(I am not sure it would be a good idea to ask him if he is aware of the progress of my case.)

Thank you for this forum and all the time spent advising all of us.

Firstly, the member of staff who you have seen won't have any idea about what the back office are doing with your case. So I don't think there is any point in asking him if you see him.

Given in your original post you said you walked off without concluding a discussion with the staff member it is possible that nothing happened and he never concluded a report on you - even though he said he would do one and the prosecutions team would be in contact with you - no real way of you knowing for certain.

Anyway

The reason I often suggest that if people have not heard in 4 months to come back here for further advice is as follows - and hopefully @curly this will hep you decide what you want to do now (if anything).

As mentioned above they have 6 Months form the date of the incident to commence criminal legal action for ticket irregularity cases - including accidental ones potentially (ie prosecute you in the magistrates court). If they don't commence that process then they lose that opportunity - which is the main sanction they have over you - including getting you to pay a settlement out of court under threat of criminal prosecution.
But
That needs to be set against the risk that they might do this at the last minute (send the case to court), which then commences the court process - which has a hard deadline set by the court (which you can't ask to be set back date wise) - that then makes it more difficult - because the time window is limited by the court deadlines for the case to be heard - to get an out of court settlement before the court issues a verdict (ie you are sentenced by the court)- which can make the chances of then negotiating a settlement much more pressured because of the courts time deadline. We still see people settling, but we also see the railway company just letting it go to court - which most people who come here for advice want to avoid.
But
that needs to be set against the prospect of them forgetting about you and nothing happening at all....(However, I personally think that if someone's details were taken, and esp if a case ref number was issued by the inspector - the chances of being forgotten about are not that high)

So you have a choice between:

A) Do nothing and see what happens in 6 months (plus 2 or 3 weeks to see if you receive paperwork from the court in the post)
Pros - they might forget about you and nothing happens within the 6 months + 3 weeks period

Cons - you might get a court summons at the last minute and that might be difficult to then negotiate a settlement out of court due to the limited time available to persuade the railway company to offer one before the deadline set by the court to deal with court paperwork - there may only be a couple of weeks time to do this)

or

B) write to them now to ask what they are doing about your case
Pros - they might respond and you can then follow the advice on the forum about how to best get an out of court settlement
- there is more time to then try to get an out of court settlement (possibly making 2 or 3 attempts if necessary) without a court deadline date ticking away

Cons - You remind them of your case when they might have forgotten about it so you can pretty much guarantee that you will probably then have to pay them the out of court settlement, or in a worst case scenario they might then decide to prosecute you, though this is not their usual procedure

Only you can decide what you want to do at this stage.

However, if you do want to write to them to find out what is happening, I suggest something very simple that simply asks them what they are doing about the matter from when you were questioned
This would have to be posted in hard copy as GTR Prosecutions Team don't accept e-mails about this sort of thing (and possibly posted tracked postage so you know they receive it)

for example - something along these lines:

Prosecutions Department
Govia Thameslink Railway
Eastside Offices
Kings Cross Railway Station
London N1C 4AX.

Today's Date

Dear Sir/ Madam

I was stopped on x date at y location and questioned about the validity of my rail ticket.

I was given this ref number xxxxx [If you were given a ref number - otherwise delete this line]

I was advised by the member of staff who spoke to me that I would hear from you in due course. Since some time has gone by since that date I would be grateful if you could let me know if there is any further action related to this that I need to respond to.

Please note my name and address is xxx

My e-mail address is: xxxx

Yours faithfully

 

[curly]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply with such detail.

I thought the inspector was following me off the train as we were only a few minutes from my stop when he asked for my ticket, and I thought he would check my ID that he had requested but not yet seen, and fill in all the details on the platform, but he remained on the train, and said through the closing doors, that he that he was reporting me for fraud.

I will sit tight and hope I hear nothing else.
I was not given any paperwork, details or case number.

No information was given to me, or taken from me, except via an invalid uber train ticket from the previous day that was scanned, that would contain my tracing information, and from touching my credit card on his reader.

I have been and will continue to be extremely careful thst my tickets are always in order.
This has been very stressful.
Your help has been invaluable.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply with such detail.

I thought the inspector was following me off the train as we were only a few minutes from my stop when he asked for my ticket, and I thought he would check my ID that he had requested but not yet seen, and fill in all the details on the platform, but he remained on the train, and said through the closing doors, that he that he was reporting me for fraud.

I will sit tight and hope I hear nothing else.
I was not given any paperwork, details or case number.

No information was given to me, or taken from me, except via an invalid uber train ticket from the previous day that was scanned, that would contain my tracing information, and from touching my credit card on his reader.

I have been and will continue to be extremely careful thst my tickets are always in order.
This has been very stressful.
Your help has been invaluable.

Maybe touch base back here Steve’s 5 and a half months if you still haven’t heard, if you feel it might be helpful to do so. I guess the issues to consider won’t change much.

Or after the 6 months has gone by.

Clearly if you do hear from them head back for advice on how to respond.