Do train companies have too much power in relation to ticketing disputes?

[Fawkes Cat]

Is it possible for losing your ticket to result in you having to declare something on a visa application, or needing a visa when you otherwise wouldn't have done?

It’s interesting to look at the Unlock website, in particular their page ‘

Travelling to the US – Do I need a visa?’ (https://hub.unlock.org.uk/knowledgebase/travelling-us-need-visa/) ​

Which explains that

The majority of individuals unable to travel under the VWP will be unable to do so because they have been arrested or convicted of a crime involving “serious damage to property” or “serious harm to another person or government authority.” These types of offences were previously referred to as ‘crimes of moral turpitude’

And Unlock’s page at https://hub.unlock.org.uk/knowledge...ce-is-a-crime-involving-moral-turpitude-cimt/ on what they think constitutes ‘crimes of moral turpitude’ says this about not paying your train fare:

Travelling on a railway without paying a fare:

If you have received a FPN [Fixed Penalty Notice] then this is NOT a CIMT [Crime Involving Moral Turpitude]. If you have been prosecuted in court then this would be dealt with as fraud and IS a CIMT.

Now, this is no more than Unlock’s opinion, and they could be wrong - although we do refer to their site quite a lot and tend to treat their views as right. And we see quite a lot of resolutions to cases which are more than a FPN (which I’m taking in railway-speak to be a penalty fare) but less than a conviction. But my guess is that only a conviction would be a problem, and within convictions it might be possible to argue that only RORA convictions were a problem, in that the byelaws don’t involve intent to not pay a fare - and my understanding is that in English law fraud requires intent to somehow obtain an unfair advantage.

But we might have to bear this in mind the next time someone asks ‘I was pulled over at X-town without a ticket - will this stop me going on holiday to Disneyland?’

 

[island]

I think they have very considerably over-thought things.

Given that common assault and shoplifting are not crimes involving moral turpitude, I would be most surprised if common-or-garden fare evasion were.