Wrong railcard presented, with mine expired - HELP

[Chicco11]

Hi all,

I hope you could help me with a problem that has been leaving me sleepless for days.

To cut it short, I was caught on a train with my gf's student railcard. The problem was (it is hard to believe to me too) is that I took by mistake her card (only the bit with date on) and left on my wallet months ago, and never realised that mine was due to expire soon. When asked for the railcard, I opened the case and showed it but obviously the name on the card did not match with the name under my old railcard ID (the one with the picture), which has actually expired two months ago. At all effects, I've been travelling two months with an expired travel card, and the wrong one in my case!
The inspector asked me if I accepted answering some of his questions under cautions, and I simply tried explaining what my genuine mistake was. He took some notes and added a bit about my story. So he's now issued a report to the prosecution department, and I should be expecting a letter to arrive soon. I'm an idiot I know, but please help me in understanding what should I do now, and what should be prepared to. I'm totally devastated!
Thanks

 

[najaB]

I'm an idiot I know, but please help me in understanding what should I do now, and what should be prepared to. I'm totally devastated!

Don't panic! There's nothing to do at the moment except wait. The train operating company (TOC) will look at the inspector/guard's report and decide from there if they think there is grounds for a prosecution or not.

If the report doesn't contain enough information to make a decision they will write to you soon to ask for further clarification or to ask if there are any mitigating factors.

If they do, reply with a full explanation of what happened, an apology and offer to pay any fare that is outstanding plus a contribution to their costs so far. More often than not TOCs are willing to settle matters directly with the passenger, rather than involve the Court - provided it is a first offence and there's no evidence that the passenger was deliberately trying to defraud them.

Feel free to post a draft of any letter/email you send and we'll give you hints and tips to increase the likelihood that it is accepted.

 

[falcon]

Can you clarify by giving the expiry date of YOUR railcard (that you did not have with you) and your GF railcard (that you had with you).

 

[Chicco11]

Thanks for your reply najaB.
Although I haven't received the letter yet, I can't find a way of sleeping at nights.
When interviewed, I was shocked and I'm not even sure I passed the message correctly. I'n not a native English speaker, and if I have had more time I'd have probably been able to defend my case more appropriately.
I'm also start panicking for my girlfriend who of course was not aware of the mix up.

What are the chances of me being taken to court? Is there anything I could do now to reinforce my position, maybe calling the prosecution department and explain the case one more time. How can I effectively prove that I was not deliberately trying to defraud them? Hard to believe nowadays, but this was the case

 

[Chicco11]

Hi Falcon,

My Railcard expired in November 2016, my gf's is valid until October 2017 (she's one year younger). It is almost 8 months that I'm not a student anymore, but my railcard covered a much longer period, that's why I wasn't too worried to check its validity last week. Very stupid move.
Question: Would it help or make things worse if I enclose to my response my expired railcard? I guess they have a way to check my assertions anyway, but, just in case...
Also, can I be prosecuted on the basis of other previous journeys that I made, AFTER the expiring date? This is what scares me like hell because it would give the feeling that I did the trick on purpose..Obviously, I'm ready to pay for all tickets and more if (hopefully) I'm asked to do so, but I don't know if I have to raise this particular aspect in my response.

 

[falcon]

Can you clarify by giving the expiry date of YOUR railcard (that you did not have with you) and your GF railcard (that you had with you).

Do we have an answer to this then?

 

[cuccir]

I know it sounds a facile thing to say, but try not to worry. You are unlikely to hear anything for well over a month, as this takes time to process.

It is likely I'm afraid that they will follow this up. NajaB has outlined this:

reply with a full explanation of what happened, an apology and offer to pay any fare that is outstanding plus a contribution to their costs so far

The only thing to add is that if you haven't already told them that you've been travelling for a few months with the out of date railcard, don't add that into your story at this point. Calling is unlikely to achieve much and if you're not a native English speaker, you may be better leaving this to written correspondence in which you can carefully review your language.

Which train company were you travelling with (if you don't know, tell us the journey you were making)? Different train companies (TOCs) have different approaches to prosecution. Most will be willing to accept an offer to settle out of court for first time offenders: this obviously costs you money, but doesn't create a criminal record.

If they do decide to prosecute, then the outcome could probably range between anything from a fine of £50 with no criminal record through to a fine of £3-400 with a criminal record that would be considered 'spent' (ie you'd no longer have to declare it when applying for jobs) after 12 months. However, we are a long way from that at the moment and there's no reason to imagine that this will be a worse case scenario unless you've not told us something (previous convictions, violence towards the railway staff during the incident, etc).

Still, it is worth emphasizing that while clearly not good, that absolute worst case really is not that bad a thing in the long run. It is not worth damaging your mental health over it.

To put your mind to rest over one matter - this will not implicate your girlfriend at all. If you haven't told her about it, then do so: these things are usually best shared!!!!

 

[najaB]

Although I haven't received the letter yet, I can't find a way of sleeping at nights.

As cuccir said, it'll be a little while before they get back to you so try to remain calm.

When interviewed, I was shocked and I'm not even sure I passed the message correctly. I'n not a native English speaker, and if I have had more time I'd have probably been able to defend my case more appropriately.

Don't beat yourself up about it, where ticketing irregularities are detected guards/inspectors act as evidence gatherers so it's unlikely that anything you said at the time made the matter any worse.

I'm also start panicking for my girlfriend who of course was not aware of the mix up.

Again, cuccir is on the money when he says it's probably a good idea to let her know what's going on - that way you have someone to share the burden.

What are the chances of me being taken to court? Is there anything I could do now to reinforce my position, maybe calling the prosecution department and explain the case one more time. How can I effectively prove that I was not deliberately trying to defraud them?

There's not really much you can do until they get back to you - at that point you'll know if they think that they have a case or not. As to proof of intent, it is for them to find evidence to support any charges rather than the other way around.

As to the likelihood of this going all the way to a prosecution: each case has to be judged on its own merits, but nothing you have told us gives me reason to believe that you won't be able to reach an out of court settlement.

 

[Chicco11]

Thanks again cuccir and najaB, your messages are really comforting.
The company is GWR, I have seen in their website that they are usually keen to settle things out of court for first time offenders. I really hope so. Of course I told my girlfriend about the story. Although she is angry at me for having made her railcard confiscated, she knows this was a genuine mistake. I just want to keep her out of this story, this was a one-person mistake, and I'm the only one who should pay for this.