Accused of fare evasion for a period of 10 month

[FrodshamJnct]

Hello everyone,

I have received a letter for TIL where states that I was stopped and failed to show a valid ticket. It mentions that I might have avoided the correct rail fare on other occasions (January to October). I travel to work every day and since I wanted to save a few pennies (very stupid of me) I used to buy a ticket for the station before the one I had to stop because there are no barriers. Now, all they said in the letter is true. However, I think about the evidencies. In what evidencies do the make this accusations? Can they see in your train app the transactions of your daily tickets? as far as I am concerned CCTV only keeps their footages for 28-31 days. I know I am in the wrong and I should be as honest as posible however I am concern about the fine I will have to pay as I counted how many times I have done and is over a 100 times. I would never be able to pay more than £200, Also the consequences of my DBS being affected by this matter will be a life changing for my career. Should I be totally honest or should I be a bit loose on dates and times?

Thank you very much in advance.

You've just owned up on a (sometimes very) public forum.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

I have received a letter for TIL where states that I was stopped and failed to show a valid ticket. It mentions that I might have avoided the correct rail fare on other occasions (January to October). I travel to work every day and since I wanted to save a few pennies (very stupid of me) I used to buy a ticket for the station before the one I had to stop because there are no barriers. Now, all they said in the letter is true. However, I think about the evidencies. In what evidencies do the make this accusations? Can they see in your train app the transactions of your daily tickets? as far as I am concerned CCTV only keeps their footages for 28-31 days. I know I am in the wrong and I should be as honest as posible however I am concern about the fine I will have to pay as I counted how many times I have done and is over a 100 times. I would never be able to pay more than £200, Also the consequences of my DBS being affected by this matter will be a life changing for my career. Should I be totally honest or should I be a bit loose on dates and times?

This is a very serious issue for which the outcome may not be good for you. You really need to concern yourself re the possible outcome and repercussions on future employment, obtaining credit/a mortgage etc.

If a train company is seeking to prosecute, then they will secure the CCTV evidence and use it as evidence against you. This means it won't be erased/deleted

 

[Haywain]

If a train company is seeking to prosecute, then they will secure the CCTV evidence and use it as evidence against you. This means it won't be erased/deleted

CCTV is only retained for a limited period (usually around 28 days) so would not be very helpful in this case. However, from what the OP has told us there will be no need for CCTV evidence.

 

[WesternLancer]

If you are going to tell them a further lie about walking from the station you had the ticket to on some occasions (which is a terrible idea by the way), then you should not post that on here.

You have given enough details in these posts for TIL to identify who you are and what your case is, and it is known that prosecution teams for TOCs do look through these forums.

I originally took it that the OP does on occasion walk that distance (post #5), but not always - and the question was if TIL would believe that on some occasion they did in fact walk but not always. However, now I re read post #5 I think the OP is asking if it might be good idea to say this (without saying that they do actually do this - so in other words making up a lie as part of an excuse). Which I also would say is an extremely bad idea.

Which given the distance this walk would involve as detailed in post#29 (3.9 miles) would almost certainly never be believed by TIL, and in fact if I was the investigator dealing with the case I would tend to think 'this guy thinks we are stupid - just put that case in the prosecution pile and don't waste any more time discussing it with them' (although I say this as an observer since it is not a job I have actually done).

It seems to me the OP has no great mitigating arguments to put forward, and they simply need to focus on their apology, promise to never do it again, and offer to pay to settle without court action and hope TIL will agree to do this - for which they will be seeking to get significant lost fare income returned of course.

And the advice in post #26 from @some bloke is wise. If this is going to be life / career changing then the cumulative cost of that over a career (almost certainly would be many £thousands) does mean the OP should seriously consider the cost now of engaging a solicitor to help them resolve this situation and seeking a way to pay for that cost.

 

[skyhigh]

CCTV is only retained for a limited period (usually around 28 days) so would not be very helpful in this case. However, from what the OP has told us there will be no need for CCTV evidence.

If they have done this over 100 times it's entirely possible they have aware of what's happening and have been following the actions of the OP and securing evidence over a period of time, which may include CCTV from before the point the OP was stopped.

If that's true, lying about your actions when they know what you've been doing is an incredibly poor idea.

 

[nucega]

Quick question. On the letter states that they would like a scanned letter send it to email they provide. Do they mot accept a normal email?

 

[Wethebest838]

Quick question. On the letter states that they would like a scanned letter send it to email they provide. Do they mot accept a normal email?

No, it has to be a scanned letter.

Me personally, I would send it via 1st class tracking. But it’s your choice!

 

[Hadders]

Quick question. On the letter states that they would like a scanned letter send it to email they provide. Do they mot accept a normal email?

They want something that has been signed by you which a normal email doesn’t cater for.

I would send a letter via 1st class Royal Mail, and pay a little extra for ‘signed for’ so that you know it has got there. The Post Office will try and get you to use Special Delivery but you don’t need that.

 

[Undiscovered]

They want something that has been signed by you which a normal email doesn’t cater for.

I would send a letter via 1st class Royal Mail, and pay a little extra for ‘signed for’ so that you know it has got there. The Post Office will try and get you to use Special Delivery but you don’t need that.

Follow it up with a duplicate of the letter in an email, with the postal tracking number attached.
Big companies will sign for a sack of mail, not individual letters. While you might argue that proof of postage and a subsequent signature count as proof of delivery, is it something you want to be arguing the toss over later.

 

[Deafdoggie]

Follow it up with a duplicate of the letter in an email, with the postal tracking number attached.
Big companies will sign for a sack of mail, not individual letters. While you might argue that proof of postage and a subsequent signature count as proof of delivery, is it something you want to be arguing the toss over later.

This is excellent advise. Remember "signed for" has no tracking at all other than the delivery signature. Which, in this case, is purely for a sackful of mail. Special Delivery has full tracking, so although the signature is again for the whole sack, the item is scanned individually showing it was put in the sack.
But Signed For and an email, as suggested above, should suffice.

 

[jimbo99]

At the moment in our area, Special Deliveries are not being signed for. The postie just writes a code on a tablet - always the same - ("XR") to say it has been delivered. We've had a few things go astray because: 1) delivered to the wrong address which might not have happened had the recipient seen the envelope at the time of delivery - we recovered these. 2) Completely lost on one occasion. Our regular postman was able to confirm that "XR" wasn't written in his handwriting and the time didn't match his normal round time. Sometimes they have GPS but not this time.

Special Delivery hasn't been what it was since Covid. But I'd still agree with using it for something as important as this.

 

[nucega]

Hello all,

I would like to update you all and to future people who might find themselves in my situation.

I send my letter written by hand through email and the next they I received and email confirmation.

2 weeks later replied with a letter saying they will not take any further investigation or to court. They then provide an amount which I was expecting to be ( less than £500) to pay within 21.

This is a copy of the letter I sent:

I was stopped by two officers on the 3rd of November 2021 and I failed to show a valid ticket to Warwick Parkway. It is difficult for me to say or find out the exact dates where I had an invalid train ticket for my final destination.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere remorse for my irresponsible actions. There was no excuse for my actions and I accept full responsibility for what I’ve done.
I accept that this sort of behaviour is damaging to the railway, and I understand your determination to ensure that people who do evade fares in this way are brought to justice. This notwithstanding, I am asking you to make an exception in my case; I am truly sorry to have acted in this way and as a result of any convictions there will be personal consequences for me beyond any fine or recompense. I have had a lot of time to reflect on what the potential impact of my criminal act will have upon my present job, my future, and it could severely impact both.
Therefore, I ask if you will see fit to settle the matter outside of court. I am happy to pay any outstanding fares due, plus a contribution towards your costs in dealing with this matter. I would be grateful if you could let me know if this is possible, and the next steps for us to take to close the matter and bring it to a satisfactory conclusion.

It’s all paid and forgotten now. Again thank you all for your help. Xxx

 

[30907]

Thank you for this excellent news.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hello all,

I would like to update you all and to future people who might find themselves in my situation.

I send my letter written by hand through email and the next they I received and email confirmation.

2 weeks later replied with a letter saying they will not take any further investigation or to court. They then provide an amount which I was expecting to be ( less than £500) to pay within 21.

This is a copy of the letter I sent:

I was stopped by two officers on the 3rd of November 2021 and I failed to show a valid ticket to Warwick Parkway. It is difficult for me to say or find out the exact dates where I had an invalid train ticket for my final destination.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere remorse for my irresponsible actions. There was no excuse for my actions and I accept full responsibility for what I’ve done.
I accept that this sort of behaviour is damaging to the railway, and I understand your determination to ensure that people who do evade fares in this way are brought to justice. This notwithstanding, I am asking you to make an exception in my case; I am truly sorry to have acted in this way and as a result of any convictions there will be personal consequences for me beyond any fine or recompense. I have had a lot of time to reflect on what the potential impact of my criminal act will have upon my present job, my future, and it could severely impact both.
Therefore, I ask if you will see fit to settle the matter outside of court. I am happy to pay any outstanding fares due, plus a contribution towards your costs in dealing with this matter. I would be grateful if you could let me know if this is possible, and the next steps for us to take to close the matter and bring it to a satisfactory conclusion.

It’s all paid and forgotten now. Again thank you all for your help. Xxx

well done on getting this sorted. Thanks for the update and good luck for the future.