So, I was given a penalty fare notice back in March after I tapped in using my phone at Clapham but my phone had died before getting to Waterloo. I forgot to appeal the notice, which was within my right as I had actually tapped in, due to the fact I lost the penalty notice. Was later issued a greater fine which I was unable to pay due to having been made redundant and have now received a charge in the post asking me to plead either guilty or not guilty to:
Failure to hand over valid ticket not in a designated compulsory ticket area - railway bye-law; Contrary to byelaw 18(2) and 24 of the Railway Byelaws made under Section 219 of the Transport Act 2000 by the Strategic Railway Authority and confirmed under schedule 20 of the Transport Act 2000, as amended by Section 46 of the Railways Act 2005. I've looked online for information regarding this as I'm due to start work in the financial sector in a couple of weeks and would very much not like this to be taken to court or appear as a criminal conviction
I've emailed the prosecutions email for the railway company explaining this and provided a snapshot of a bank statement showing the maximum fare charge I incurred for not having tapped out for this particular journey and this also showed another tfl journey within a similar timeframe which I hope at least shows I pay for my travel regularly and pleaded to settle this out of court. Would anyone have any insight into what sort of reply to expect, potential cost to settle out of court and whether a not guilty plea would stand up in court providing I show evidence of initially tapping in and then being charged a maximum fare? Thanks in advance
