Notice to Prosecute HELP

[53748491]

Hi there

Like so many others I’ve been sent a Notice of Intention to Prosecute. I’ve attached a redacted copy.

I have no excuse, I tried to short fare. I have done it before. Like everyone else I cannot afford a criminal record, I will lose my job.

Having read through other posts it sounds like GTR usually settle out of court. I was hoping for some feedback on my response to their letter:

Dear Fare Evasion Manager

I refer to your letter dated 31 March 2025, reference XXX. I deeply regret the financial and time losses you have incurred as a result of my actions, and I sincerely apologise for the impact this has caused.

I would very much like to settle this matter out of court if you would be amenable to that outcome.

Kind regards
XXX

I don’t wish to go into details in my letter as I don’t want to incriminate myself further however I want to show my regret, willingness to cooperate and and preference to settle out of court.

Please let me know your thoughts?

I also have some further questions:

Roughly how long will it take for their response? I will be away from home for over two weeks next month and I’m worried I’ll miss the letter and miss the deadline.

If they agree to settle out of court I understand they don’t give you much chance to pay. Can I pay by credit card?

Thanks very much everyone!

 

[AlterEgo]

You can’t just say “sorry for the thing I did”, you do need to accept responsibility and reference what happened. It’s very insincere to leave all the details out, because your letter won’t feel like you’re accepting responsibility or that you even accept that what you did was wrong.

You’ve been caught bang to rights so I don’t understand why you think you might incriminate yourself further.

 

[53748491]

You can’t just say “sorry for the thing I did”, you do need to accept responsibility and reference what happened. It’s very insincere to leave all the details out, because your letter won’t feel like you’re accepting responsibility or that you even accept that what you did was wrong.

You’ve been caught bang to rights so I don’t understand why you think you might incriminate yourself further.

Thanks for your reply. I guess that’s what I was worried about, it sounding insincere. I don’t want to incriminate myself further as I understand from other posts they might look into my previous charges and see I’ve done this before. I will redraft and post again here.

 

[AlterEgo]

Thanks for your reply. I guess that’s what I was worried about, it sounding insincere. I don’t want to incriminate myself further as I understand from other posts they might look into my previous charges and see I’ve done this before. I will redraft and post again here.

You don’t need to tell them you’ve done it lots of times before. The letter is asking for your response to a specific incident, so you should reference that, but not mention any others.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

I'm guessing you were caught with a Blackfriars to City Thameslink ticket.....

Anyway, GTR do normally settle cases like this but your letter is really much too short and insincere. You need to add a bit of context such as the stations you were travelling between. You need to ask if they will consider settling out of court, GTR are entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to.

As noted above, you aren't required to incriminate yourself but you do need to be prepared for GTR to search your online ticket purchasing history and if they discover other cases of travelling with invalid tickets they will factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement offer.

As for paying a settlement, they will accept payment by credit card.

 

[53748491]

Hi there

Like so many others I’ve been sent a Notice of Intention to Prosecute. I’ve attached a redacted copy.

I have no excuse, I tried to short fare. I have done it before. Like everyone else I cannot afford a criminal record, I will lose my job.

Having read through other posts it sounds like GTR usually settle out of court. I was hoping for some feedback on my response to their letter:

Dear Fare Evasion Manager

I refer to your letter dated 31 March 2025, reference XXX. I deeply regret the financial and time losses you have incurred as a result of my actions, and I sincerely apologise for the impact this has caused.

I would very much like to settle this matter out of court if you would be amenable to that outcome.

Kind regards
XXX

I don’t wish to go into details in my letter as I don’t want to incriminate myself further however I want to show my regret, willingness to cooperate and and preference to settle out of court.

Please let me know your thoughts?

I also have some further questions:

Roughly how long will it take for their response? I will be away from home for over two weeks next month and I’m worried I’ll miss the letter and miss the deadline.

If they agree to settle out of court I understand they don’t give you much chance to pay. Can I pay by credit card?

Thanks very much everyone!

Redraft:

Dear Fare Evasion Manager

I refer to your letter dated 31 March 2025, reference XXX. I was stopped on 23 January 2025 at City Thameslink station. I had travelled from Balcombe but only had a ticket from East Croydon. This was stupid and shortsighted of me and I apologise. I deeply regret the financial and time losses you have incurred as a result of my actions, and I am sincerely sorry for the impact this has caused.

I would very much like to settle this matter out of court if you would be amenable to that outcome. If I were to have a criminal record I would lose my job and be unable to support my young family. Additionally, I would be unable to continue in my various volunteer roles working with primary school children including my role as a trustee of a children’s charity.

Once again, please accept my apologies and and thank you for your consideration.

Kind regards
XXX

Welcome to the forum!

I'm guessing you were caught with a Blackfriars to City Thameslink ticket.....

Anyway, GTR do normally settle cases like this but your letter is really much too short and insincere. You need to add a bit of context such as the stations you were travelling between. You need to ask if they will consider settling out of court, GTR are entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to.

As noted above, you aren't required to incriminate yourself but you do need to be prepared for GTR to search your online ticket purchasing history and if they discover other cases of travelling with invalid tickets they will factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement offer.

As for paying a settlement, they will accept payment by credit card.

Thank you for your reply. I had an East Croydon to City Thameslink ticket and boarded at Balcombe.

I’ve redrafted my letter and posted in reply to my original post.

Thank you for the info on paying by credit card. Do you have any idea how long I could expect to wait for a reply? As I mentioned I won’t be home for some of next month and worry about missing their letter.

 

[WesternLancer]

Redraft:

Dear Fare Evasion Manager

I refer to your letter dated 31 March 2025, reference XXX. I was stopped on 23 January 2025 at City Thameslink station. I had travelled from Balcombe but only had a ticket from East Croydon. This was stupid and shortsighted of me and I apologise. I deeply regret the financial and time losses you have incurred as a result of my actions, and I am sincerely sorry for the impact this has caused.

I would very much like to settle this matter out of court if you would be amenable to that outcome. If I were to have a criminal record I would lose my job and be unable to support my young family. Additionally, I would be unable to continue in my various volunteer roles working with primary school children including my role as a trustee of a children’s charity.

Once again, please accept my apologies and and thank you for your consideration.

Kind regards
XXX


Thank you for your reply. I had an East Croydon to City Thameslink ticket and boarded at Balcombe.

I’ve redrafted my letter and posted in reply to my original post.

Thank you for the info on paying by credit card. Do you have any idea how long I could expect to wait for a reply? As I mentioned I won’t be home for some of next month and worry about missing their letter.

You should consider if a trusted person can monitor your post or look into a Royal Mail redirection for while you are away (see their website) but if you are abroad I would get the redirect to a trusted person / family member in uk. They could then scan and e mail any post to you for example.

Other concluded threads involving this train company may give you an idea of key timescales.

 

[53748491]

You should consider if a trusted person can monitor your post or look into a Royal Mail redirection for while you are away (see their website) but if you are abroad I would get the redirect to a trusted person / family member in uk. They could then scan and e mail any post to you for example.

Other concluded threads involving this train company may give you an idea of key timescales.

Thank you very much.

 

[30907]

If I were to have a criminal record I would lose my job and be unable to support my young family. Additionally, I would be unable to continue in my various volunteer roles working with primary school children including my role as a trustee of a children’s charity.

Do you have evidence that a conviction under the Byelaws for not having a valid ticket would have these impacts? If not, please don't say it.
You certainly would not be disqualified as a Trustee, for example.

 

[Hadders]

GTR won't care about the impact on your life so I'd lose that bit. Why should someone who works with children or a charity trustee be treated differently to a cleaner, supermarket shelf filler or coffee shop barista?

You need to ask for a settlement. I suggest saying 'I wondered if it would be possible to settle this matter without the need for court action'.

 

[Honestviews]

Do you have evidence that a conviction under the Byelaws for not having a valid ticket would have these impacts? If not, please don't say it.
You certainly would not be disqualified as a Trustee, for example.

I agree with you re not being a Trustee but not for the same reasons. A Trustee is automatically disqualified if they have a conviction for a dishonesty offence. However the law requires it have been an offence that required a dishonesty to be proven to be convicted, not just that the offence included dishonesty.

Therefore if it is a conviction for not having a valid ticket then that would not lead to automatic disqualification.

 

[30907]

I agree with you re not being a Trustee but not for the same reasons. A Trustee is automatically disqualified if they have a conviction for a dishonesty offence. However the law requires it have been an offence that required a dishonesty to be proven to be convicted, not just that the offence included dishonesty.

Therefore if it is a conviction for not having a valid ticket then that would not lead to automatic disqualification.

Thank you for spelling that out and confirming my interpretation.