Hi all,
To keep it brief and honest: I was stopped at London Bridge for failing to buy a full ticket from my home station to London Bridge (I bought two cheaper tickets instead). I immediately admitted what I did and was co-operative with staff members. I of course felt terrible immediately, and have absolutely no intention of doing it again. Annoyingly, I was told that they would also contact me by email/phone as well as by letter, so in the ~two weeks after thought I was okay not asking flatmates to check my mail. Anyway, I have returned home and seen that I received 'provisionally authorised for prosecution' letter, and it gives me only a couple of days to respond.
Some context: I'm a student who doesn't have loads of money. When asked I told them this. I get the train about 4 times a week for short journeys and always pay the full fare. However, I travel up to London fairly regularly (every couple of weekends). I have done what I got caught for before; going through my Trainline orders, I think it's ~20 times in the past year. I'm aware this isn't good and doesn't help my case for an out-of-court settlement. The staff member who caught me looked through my Trainline orders, and (maybe taking some sympathy on me and also seeing the number of valid tickets that I do buy) said that she would only mention in her report the present incident, and one a week or so before. So in the following letter (going on the advice that I've read here), I've mentioned that I'm very happy to pay 'what I owe' but haven't explicitly mentioned anything else, leaving it somewhat open that I'm prepared to pay everything if/when they do check my Trainline. I am pretty desperate to avoid going to court. Here is my drafted letter:
Dear Southeastern Prosecutions Manager,
Re Ref
Thank you for your letter dated * * regarding the incident on the * *. I take full responsibility for my actions, and deeply regret not buying a ticket for the full journey from * * to London Bridge, instead buying a ticket from * * to * *, and * * to * *.
I fully appreciate the consequences of my actions and am very, very sorry about what happened. I immediately felt terrible about what I had done and understand that it was a severe lapse of judgement. I hope the fact that I was fully co-operative with the member of rail staff present provides some reassurance that I regretted my actions. I can guarantee you that this will not ever happen again.
I do not seek any sympathy by providing some context around my actions, but simply wish to add that as a student I will be far more careful with my expenditure in the future, so that I am always in a position to pay the full rail fare. Since the incident I have been saving money, because I would be keen to pay what I owe to Southeastern, plus any administrative fees, through an out-of-court settlement. As a medical student, a criminal prosecution could have serious repercussions for my future career; please know that I have used this incident to fully analyse my actions and learn from this. I am very willing to co-operate with your process and pay the full amount owed immediately.
I am truly sorry about what happened, and the trouble it has caused staff at Southeastern. I would be extremely keen to settle this matter out-of-court.
Yours sincerely,
Any advice at all would be extremely welcome. Any successful/unsuccessful out-of-court stories for similar evasions would be greatly welcome, as the anxiety of not really knowing what will happen is horrible. I'd just like to get a clear idea either way.
To keep it brief and honest: I was stopped at London Bridge for failing to buy a full ticket from my home station to London Bridge (I bought two cheaper tickets instead). I immediately admitted what I did and was co-operative with staff members. I of course felt terrible immediately, and have absolutely no intention of doing it again. Annoyingly, I was told that they would also contact me by email/phone as well as by letter, so in the ~two weeks after thought I was okay not asking flatmates to check my mail. Anyway, I have returned home and seen that I received 'provisionally authorised for prosecution' letter, and it gives me only a couple of days to respond.
Some context: I'm a student who doesn't have loads of money. When asked I told them this. I get the train about 4 times a week for short journeys and always pay the full fare. However, I travel up to London fairly regularly (every couple of weekends). I have done what I got caught for before; going through my Trainline orders, I think it's ~20 times in the past year. I'm aware this isn't good and doesn't help my case for an out-of-court settlement. The staff member who caught me looked through my Trainline orders, and (maybe taking some sympathy on me and also seeing the number of valid tickets that I do buy) said that she would only mention in her report the present incident, and one a week or so before. So in the following letter (going on the advice that I've read here), I've mentioned that I'm very happy to pay 'what I owe' but haven't explicitly mentioned anything else, leaving it somewhat open that I'm prepared to pay everything if/when they do check my Trainline. I am pretty desperate to avoid going to court. Here is my drafted letter:
Dear Southeastern Prosecutions Manager,
Re Ref
Thank you for your letter dated * * regarding the incident on the * *. I take full responsibility for my actions, and deeply regret not buying a ticket for the full journey from * * to London Bridge, instead buying a ticket from * * to * *, and * * to * *.
I fully appreciate the consequences of my actions and am very, very sorry about what happened. I immediately felt terrible about what I had done and understand that it was a severe lapse of judgement. I hope the fact that I was fully co-operative with the member of rail staff present provides some reassurance that I regretted my actions. I can guarantee you that this will not ever happen again.
I do not seek any sympathy by providing some context around my actions, but simply wish to add that as a student I will be far more careful with my expenditure in the future, so that I am always in a position to pay the full rail fare. Since the incident I have been saving money, because I would be keen to pay what I owe to Southeastern, plus any administrative fees, through an out-of-court settlement. As a medical student, a criminal prosecution could have serious repercussions for my future career; please know that I have used this incident to fully analyse my actions and learn from this. I am very willing to co-operate with your process and pay the full amount owed immediately.
I am truly sorry about what happened, and the trouble it has caused staff at Southeastern. I would be extremely keen to settle this matter out-of-court.
Yours sincerely,
Any advice at all would be extremely welcome. Any successful/unsuccessful out-of-court stories for similar evasions would be greatly welcome, as the anxiety of not really knowing what will happen is horrible. I'd just like to get a clear idea either way.