Ollie7001
Member
Hi, first-time poster.
My friend got stopped last week by an "officer" at Stratford Station for a ticket check. She openly admitted at the time that he did not have a ticket for the full journey and that she only paid from Chelmsford to Ingatestone due to it being a cheaper fare to save money. At all times she was open and honest with the officer and did not lie. She buys her tickets through Trainline rather than Greater Anglia directly and has done this a total of 39 times dating from March 13th to August 29th. This is made up of Chelmsford to Ingatestone (should be Chelmsford to Stratford) as well as Ingatestone to Chelmsford (Should be Stratford to Chelmsford)
Calculating the cost of the journeys I anticipate roughly £400 of unpaid fares (based on them being anytime day single tickets).
The officer requested to see their journey history when stopped and they willingly showed them their trainline account and history to which they took photos. They also took photos of proof of address from her. When asked why she did it, she explained to the officer that her ex put her in a bad financial position and she was doing it to save money. He did state to her that if she is honest with him then he will try to help her.
She has now received an email from the Greater Anglia fraud investigations team with the title travel irregularity. It states that she was spoken to by Greater Anglia staff in relation to ticket irregularity and the facts of this incident have been submitted to the office and are being considered for legal proceedings.
It also states that if she wishes to contact them about the case then to do so within 7 days and an email to contact them. Lastly, it states that without her input this matter could be passed to the prosecution team.
Based on all of the above information I am after advice on the best steps to avoid prosecution. She is willing to pay back the missing fare amounts as well as a fine. She is in absolute despair over the incident and openly admitted to the officer that she will never do this again and has since traveled and paid the full fare.
Should she respond? should she email back pleading the case based on the circumstances around her ex? Should she state she was under duress and felt threatened etc by the officer? just want to know the best response. She has never been fined or warned in the past, this is a first time offence.
To add further complication she is here on a work visa and so is absolutely petrified that what was a silly decision may result in that being cancelled if she was to get prosecuted.
Any help you're able to give would be greatly appreciated.
My friend got stopped last week by an "officer" at Stratford Station for a ticket check. She openly admitted at the time that he did not have a ticket for the full journey and that she only paid from Chelmsford to Ingatestone due to it being a cheaper fare to save money. At all times she was open and honest with the officer and did not lie. She buys her tickets through Trainline rather than Greater Anglia directly and has done this a total of 39 times dating from March 13th to August 29th. This is made up of Chelmsford to Ingatestone (should be Chelmsford to Stratford) as well as Ingatestone to Chelmsford (Should be Stratford to Chelmsford)
Calculating the cost of the journeys I anticipate roughly £400 of unpaid fares (based on them being anytime day single tickets).
The officer requested to see their journey history when stopped and they willingly showed them their trainline account and history to which they took photos. They also took photos of proof of address from her. When asked why she did it, she explained to the officer that her ex put her in a bad financial position and she was doing it to save money. He did state to her that if she is honest with him then he will try to help her.
She has now received an email from the Greater Anglia fraud investigations team with the title travel irregularity. It states that she was spoken to by Greater Anglia staff in relation to ticket irregularity and the facts of this incident have been submitted to the office and are being considered for legal proceedings.
It also states that if she wishes to contact them about the case then to do so within 7 days and an email to contact them. Lastly, it states that without her input this matter could be passed to the prosecution team.
Based on all of the above information I am after advice on the best steps to avoid prosecution. She is willing to pay back the missing fare amounts as well as a fine. She is in absolute despair over the incident and openly admitted to the officer that she will never do this again and has since traveled and paid the full fare.
Should she respond? should she email back pleading the case based on the circumstances around her ex? Should she state she was under duress and felt threatened etc by the officer? just want to know the best response. She has never been fined or warned in the past, this is a first time offence.
To add further complication she is here on a work visa and so is absolutely petrified that what was a silly decision may result in that being cancelled if she was to get prosecuted.
Any help you're able to give would be greatly appreciated.