Summoned to court

[skyhigh]

Will I get a criminal record?

If you're convicted, yes.

 

[Titfield]

You may wish to look at https://unlock.org.uk/ as it explains the impact of a criminal conviction.

The impact of a criminal conviction for a minor ticketing offence is low for many individuals but significantly higher for those who work or have ambitions to work in a regulated profession.

 

[WesternLancer]

Update:
‘I can confirm that we intend to pursue this matter in Court. On receipt of your court paperwork you will be able to submit your plea.’
What can I do now?? Pls help

Sorry to hear that your efforts to resolve this out of court have not been successful.

You ask about involving a solicitor - I see this has been answered, and as you can see it will involve a fair whack of legal fees. It may or may not work, as is explained by @Hadders . I think you would have to weigh up the costs of engaging one verses the consequences to you of having a criminal record for this (I have to say I suspect it's pretty minor crime in the great scheme of things, and would be 'spent' after a relatively short period -a year maybe but others will advise). You can always ring some solicitors for a quote on how much it would cost for them to help you - there are about 3 firms that get mentioned on this forum as specialising in this area and people who use them have never said anything negative about those firms that I can recall.

for example
https://manaksolicitors.co.uk/services/fare-evasion/

I doubt it matters that they are not in the Northern Trains area, but there may be other solicitors more local to you who specialise in rail fare evasion.

In any case when you receive the court papers it might be of help to you to upload them here so that people can advise you on anything pertinent that is in those papers, what to include etc

Another course of action that I don't think has been mentioned yet which you could consider is going to court on the day and seeking last ditch personal attempt to ask the prosecutor in person if they will agree to settle it out of court before the case is heard.

I think this would involve opting for the case to be heard in person at the court (there will be a large batch of these listed for in person at the court on the day because fare evasion and ticketing offences are widespread), going early in the day to the court and seeking out the Prosecutor who is acting for Northern Trains and asking if you can speak to them to see if they will at the last minute agree to dropping the prosecution and settling it out of court - we have heard of occasional cases of this working.

You would need to be prepared to be at the court for a good chunk of time (so be prepared for most of the day potentially), ask court staff to point out the prosecutor to you, and have funds ready to make a full payment immediately if the Prosecutor was prepared to agree to this.

This could be something for you to think about and no doubt if you decide to give it a try I'm sure people here will advise you on how best to go about it so you have as good as possible a chance to achieve it if you want to give it a try.

 

[pleasehelpme]

Thank you all for your advice. I’d like to add that I am currently studying Accounting at uni, and I am considering a career in finance or teaching. I’m concerned that a criminal record would significantly impact my career opportunities, especially in regulated professions like finance or teaching, where the impact of a record would be much more severe. This situation is causing me a lot of stress, and I would even consider dropping out of university if I were to get a criminal record.

I know hiring a solicitor is expensive; I found that Reeds Solicitors would charge around £800. My concern is whether having a solicitor would actually change Northern’s stance, considering they’ve been firm in their emails, or if it’s more about helping me get the best possible outcome. I’ve looked up several websites, but the advice seems to vary, and I’m not sure how the process works exactly. Would a solicitor be able to help in this case? Also if It does escalate to court how much of a fine would I be charged with roughly

 

[Haywain]

Would a solicitor be able to help in this case?

We simply do not, and cannot, know. They cannot change your guilt though.

Also if It does escalate to court how much of a fine would I be charged with roughly

Fines are based on your earnings so if you are a student who is not working full time it is likely to be on the lower side. With a discount for an early guilty plea it is likely to be something like £220 fine plus 40% victim surcharge, plus costs (likely around £150) and compensation (the ticket price) - so, a very rough estimate would be around £500 but could be higher.

 

[John R]

Given your thoughts about becoming an accountant, you must appreciate that the profession requires the highest degree of integrity from its members in everything they do. Both the initial act of repeated fare dodging, but even more so the way you responded to the letter you received , makes me wonder whether you have the right attitude of mind to pursue a career as an accountant.

As to whether a solicitor will be helpful, my gut feeling (and it is no more than that) is that Northern has made up its mind following your first response. So it will be quite a gamble to engage one with the cost that will entail.

 

[minderbinder]

We simply do not, and cannot, know. They cannot change your guilt though.

You’re absolutely right, of course, but this looks to me like one of the cases in which it is probably worth hiring a solicitor.

We can surmise that the reason why Northern are pursuing prosecution is not solely because of OP’s guilt (after all, we know that Northern often settle with guilty parties), but rather because of OP’s astonishingly poor attitude in their correspondence with Northern. I’d imagine that the act of hiring a solicitor might demonstrate an appropriate adjustment of attitude.

 

[Titfield]

My view is that the Court would find the OP guilty and apply the standard formula to the fine etc. A solicitor would not be able to change that.

What a solicitor could do is lay out to Northern that (1) you now fully realise the seriousness of the matter (2) your "stupidity" (3) a conviction would have a disproportionate effect on your career and would they therefore consider withdrawing the charge and instead offer an out of court settlement which fully reflected the seriousness of the matter. Whilst the solicitor is not impartial (they are acting on your instructions) Northern may at least appreciate that involving a solicitor demonstrates how seriously you are taking the matter and and the sincerity in your wish to try and resolve it out of court.

As @John R has said this is a costly gamble and it is impossible to even guess at the chances of success.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you all for your advice. I’d like to add that I am currently studying Accounting at uni, and I am considering a career in finance or teaching. I’m concerned that a criminal record would significantly impact my career opportunities, especially in regulated professions like finance or teaching, where the impact of a record would be much more severe. This situation is causing me a lot of stress, and I would even consider dropping out of university if I were to get a criminal record.

I know hiring a solicitor is expensive; I found that Reeds Solicitors would charge around £800. My concern is whether having a solicitor would actually change Northern’s stance, considering they’ve been firm in their emails, or if it’s more about helping me get the best possible outcome. I’ve looked up several websites, but the advice seems to vary, and I’m not sure how the process works exactly. Would a solicitor be able to help in this case? Also if It does escalate to court how much of a fine would I be charged with roughly

This is really difficult to answer because you don't know if spending a sum like £800 will get the outcome you seek, which you have to trade off against whether you have c£800 'spare' to spend in this way, or how you look at it overall. And I see @Titfield has just given some excellent advice.

If for example the conviction of this made it more difficult or delayed your ability to enter into your chosen profession (and I have no idea if it actually would) then the lost earnings from that might make £800 seem like good value, but if it had no real impact you might think it's not good value at all.

One thing I would say is that it's not worth dropping out of university for. University is an investment in your own future for doing all sorts of jobs with higher earnings levels over your career - including ones that would have no great interest that you dodged some fares so long as you learned a lesson from the error of judgment you made - which I'm pretty sure you have. You might not see that in he first few years after graduating (I certainly didn't) but long term is different.

 

[pleasehelpme]

Given your thoughts about becoming an accountant, you must appreciate that the profession requires the highest degree of integrity from its members in everything they do. Both the initial act of repeated fare dodging, but even more so the way you responded to the letter you received , makes me wonder whether you have the right attitude of mind to pursue a career as an accountant.

As to whether a solicitor will be helpful, my gut feeling (and it is no more than that) is that Northern has made up its mind following your first response. So it will be quite a gamble to engage one with the cost that will entail.

Thank you for your input, but I think it’s important to remember that making a mistake—especially a first one—doesn’t automatically define someone’s character or their ability to succeed in a profession.
I acknowledged my error and responded to Northern’s letter, not trying to avoid responsibility but rather because I didn’t fully understand the seriousness of the situation at the time. The officer who spoke to me said not to worry, that I wouldn’t be going to court or getting a fine, and just to reply to the letter. That gave me the impression it was a minor issue, which influenced the tone of my response.

The fact that Northern sent a follow-up on March 12 saying the matter was “on hold” while being assessed suggests they hadn’t immediately made a final decision either. So I don’t believe it’s accurate to say they made up their mind based on my initial response.


I genuinely regret the incident, and I’ve learned a lot from it—not just about the consequences of actions, but also how crucial it is to communicate clearly and take things seriously even when they seem small. That, to me, is a reflection of growth, not of being unfit for a professional career.

Everyone makes mistakes. What matters is how you take responsibility and move forward, and I plan to do exactly that—both personally and professionally.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Thank you for your input, but I think it’s important to remember that making a mistake—especially a first one—doesn’t automatically define someone’s character or their ability to succeed in a profession.
I acknowledged my error and responded to Northern’s letter, not trying to avoid responsibility but rather because I didn’t fully understand the seriousness of the situation at the time. The officer who spoke to me said not to worry, that I wouldn’t be going to court or getting a fine, and just to reply to the letter. That gave me the impression it was a minor issue, which influenced the tone of my response.

The fact that Northern sent a follow-up on March 12 saying the matter was “on hold” while being assessed suggests they hadn’t immediately made a final decision either. So I don’t believe it’s accurate to say they made up their mind based on my initial response.


I genuinely regret the incident, and I’ve learned a lot from it—not just about the consequences of actions, but also how crucial it is to communicate clearly and take things seriously even when they seem small. That, to me, is a reflection of growth, not of being unfit for a professional career.

Everyone makes mistakes. What matters is how you take responsibility and move forward, and I plan to do exactly that—both personally and professionally.

Without wanting to argue the rights and wrongs of the above, it might be worth checking with the appropriate professional body (there are a quite a few for accountants) what view they take of a conviction. If that forms an absolute bar to being recognised by them, then that might be an argument in doing everything you can to avoid a conviction regardless of cost i.e. you might want to pay to instruct a solicitor, even if there is no guarantee of them preventing a prosecution.

 

[Ducatist4]

Inspectors etc will often try and defuse a potentially difficult situation by saying don't worry, you can appeal and it wont go to court or whatever. As you have found out that's not necessarily the case but unfortunately it makes no difference to the outcome.

 

[Titfield]

Members of the Forum: May I suggest the OP is where the OP is and we should seek from making any further comment unless it will assist the OP directly.

Personally if I was the Op and and I had the funds I would instruct a solicitor even though I think the chances of my then avoiding a conviction was low. My rationale is that a conviction could come back to embarrass me in the future. However it is for the OP to decide as he thinks fit.

 

[AY City]

I am a qualified accountant and due to being an idiotic teenager, I do have a criminal record, arguably for a more serious crime, albeit not one involving fraudulent activity. I did have to declare it to the professional body and they did accept me as a member. So dropping out of university is probably unwise in relation to this, and I would advise more research or speaking to the relevant professional bodies before declaring this situation a total disaster.

 

[simonw]

Thank you for your input, but I think it’s important to remember that making a mistake—especially a first one—doesn’t automatically define someone’s character or their ability to succeed in a profession.

But it wasnt a one-off and unfortunately professions such as accountancy and law do look to a person's actions and trustworthiness.

I would suggest investing in a solicitor.

 

[JordR]

Regulators of chartered and certified accountants are exempt from certain provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, which I believe means that even spent convictions would have to be disclosed in an application for professional membership.

So a solicitor if you can afford it at all is probably a good idea if you want the best possible chance of a favourable outcome.

It'd also be a good idea to investigate if this level of severity is likely to be a professional issue. Incidentally, failing to disclose it is likely to be much more serious and a guaranteed strike off if discovered.

 

[MotCO]

It'd also be a good idea to investigate if this level of severity is likely to be a professional issue. Incidentally, failing to disclose it is likely to be much more serious and a guaranteed strike off if discovered.

And likewise, you may need to disclose any conviction to your university and future employers. As above, failure to disclose, and your employer/university/professional body finding out before you tell them, is often seen to be a worse offence than the original incident.

 

[pleasehelpme]

Update i got manak solicitor and they got it settled out of court. Many thanks for everyone’s help i really appreciate it

 

[John R]

Thank you for the update. Are you willing to let us know the cost of the settlement and (separately) the legal fees?

I think this shows that Manak are very effective at recovering a situation which, to be honest, was very tricky, as a consequence of your first response. So to that extent your feedback is very helpful to us in advising future posters when we think a prosecution is very likely.

 

[pleasehelpme]

The consultation fee was £125, and the package was £600, so the total came to £725. The fine from Northern was originally around £300 (based on the value of the avoided tickets), plus an additional £100. Fortunately, the solicitor managed to have this significantly reduced.
The value of how much I owed them was slightly higher than what should have been and I informed the solicitor and he got it sorted within a day.
Unfortunately, Northern has now accused me of refunding tickets in March 2025, which I did not do—this was mentioned in the recent letter they sent me. At that time, I simply contacted a TrainPal agent to exchange some outbound tickets for a different time. I suspect they decided to take the matter to court in the end because they believed I was still engaged in fraudulent activity.

That said, I would honestly recommend Manak Solicitors. They were direct, efficient, and didn’t waste any time with unnecessary complications.

 

[John R]

Thank you for the detail. Hopefully you'll be able to sort out the ticketing issue too without too much bother too.

 

[pleasehelpme]

Sorry I said it the wrong way round but what I meant was they accused me but solicitor got that sorted too