Hi Everyone, any advice would be much appreciated.
On November 2015 my 18 year old son left his rucksack containing all his University books on a London bus. As soon as he realised, he contacted TFL who informed him that the books were being held at the lost property office in Potters Bar. The next day he went to Kings Cross, tapped in with his Oyster card, and took a train to Potters Bar. He naively assumed that, since he had left his books on a London bus, the relevant lost property depot would be in London, and that possessions lost in Central London would not be taken out of Central London. He was not aware that Potters Bar was not deemed to be in London and therefore not part of the Oyster card network. He has a monthly Oyster card which he uses for all his travel in London. Taking the wrong means of transport to Potters Bar was his first mistake. His second mistake was that he then fell asleep on the train and woke in Welwyn Garden City. He immediately left the train and approached a transport employee to find out where he was and to ask their advice about how to get to Potters Bar. He was directed to another platform and told that he needed to go through a ticket barrier to do this. This was when he realised that there was nowhere to tap his oyster card because, as he was about to discover, he was no longer in the Oyster zone.
When he explained his predicament to the gentleman in question, he was told that he would have to pay a fine of £20 for travelling out of London without a ticket. He was also told that, although he had left my bags on a London bus, Potters Bar was not in fact covered by his oyster card either. Given the completely unintentional nature of his mistake(s), he assumed that he would have been allowed to buy a return ticket from Kings Cross to Potter Bar, and learn from his mistake. He now realised however that he was also going to have to buy a return ticket from Potters Bar to Welwyn Garden City. Having purchased the required tickets for his over-sleeping, he genuinely felt that an additional fine of £20, for something that was so obviously a mistake, was excessive, and he refused to pay the additional fine. He has subsequently received a "notice of intention to prosecute" from Govia Thameslink Railways. He completed the form, as requested, explaining his side of the story and apologising, and then yesterday received a 2 line letter back saying that "having considered the case, they are going forward with the case" .
Clearly they do not believe him. However, his mother and I have spoken to him at length and are absolutely certain that he is telling the truth - and I'm quite a cynic at the best of times. He should have paid the £20 fine at the time, and moved on, but he didn't. He felt that it was unjust. What would you advise him to do now?
Thank you in advance for any help you are able to provide
On November 2015 my 18 year old son left his rucksack containing all his University books on a London bus. As soon as he realised, he contacted TFL who informed him that the books were being held at the lost property office in Potters Bar. The next day he went to Kings Cross, tapped in with his Oyster card, and took a train to Potters Bar. He naively assumed that, since he had left his books on a London bus, the relevant lost property depot would be in London, and that possessions lost in Central London would not be taken out of Central London. He was not aware that Potters Bar was not deemed to be in London and therefore not part of the Oyster card network. He has a monthly Oyster card which he uses for all his travel in London. Taking the wrong means of transport to Potters Bar was his first mistake. His second mistake was that he then fell asleep on the train and woke in Welwyn Garden City. He immediately left the train and approached a transport employee to find out where he was and to ask their advice about how to get to Potters Bar. He was directed to another platform and told that he needed to go through a ticket barrier to do this. This was when he realised that there was nowhere to tap his oyster card because, as he was about to discover, he was no longer in the Oyster zone.
When he explained his predicament to the gentleman in question, he was told that he would have to pay a fine of £20 for travelling out of London without a ticket. He was also told that, although he had left my bags on a London bus, Potters Bar was not in fact covered by his oyster card either. Given the completely unintentional nature of his mistake(s), he assumed that he would have been allowed to buy a return ticket from Kings Cross to Potter Bar, and learn from his mistake. He now realised however that he was also going to have to buy a return ticket from Potters Bar to Welwyn Garden City. Having purchased the required tickets for his over-sleeping, he genuinely felt that an additional fine of £20, for something that was so obviously a mistake, was excessive, and he refused to pay the additional fine. He has subsequently received a "notice of intention to prosecute" from Govia Thameslink Railways. He completed the form, as requested, explaining his side of the story and apologising, and then yesterday received a 2 line letter back saying that "having considered the case, they are going forward with the case" .
Clearly they do not believe him. However, his mother and I have spoken to him at length and are absolutely certain that he is telling the truth - and I'm quite a cynic at the best of times. He should have paid the £20 fine at the time, and moved on, but he didn't. He felt that it was unjust. What would you advise him to do now?
Thank you in advance for any help you are able to provide
