Help with Next Steps - Thameslink Prosecutions Team

My son has done something immensely stupid.
When he turned 18 (last September) he applied for a new 16-25 rail card but has been buying a 16/17 season ticket to go with it.
He says the season ticket defaults to the 16/17 option on the app and he just carried on buying it on autopilot until this Wednesday (6th March) when he got inspected and they asked him to produce the railcard (16/17) to go with his season ticket (also 16/17).
He was travelling from Brighton to Lancing and got inspected at about 2.00pm in the afternoon just before Hove.
He realised what he had done as soon as the ticket inspector said "You have a 16/17 season ticket, please can I see your 16/17 railcard?", and instead of admitting his mistake then and there he thought to himself, "Oh crumbs, my railcard needs to match my season ticket", so he told them he didn't have it on him but that it was a 16/17 railcard. He then compounded the whole sorry mess by telling them he was 17 and giving the wrong date of birth.
He was in such a state about the lies getting out of hand, he told them he was getting off at Hove so they escorted him off the train there and filled in the ticket.
He was panicking about what he'd done (one of the inspectors told him he had nice boots in an attempt to calm him down) and rang me from outside the ticket office to ask if he should go back in and tell the truth, but I told him to just come home and we'd figure it out.
In my naivety I thought he just messed up one season ticket and that we would have to pay a fine. Having read the threads on the forum I now realise that he may have made a life-altering mistake.
He's not very functional and we usually check all this stuff for him - we pay for his travel and have been paying him the same amount since he turned 18 as we didn't realise the price had changed either.

I understand that he will be prosecuted and has absolutely no defence. I am also painfully aware that having carried his mistake forward since last September that he looks like a serial offender....even though if you knew him you would just think he was a dopey boy who doesn't cope very well with his admin. He couldn't be more sorry. The reason for coming on here is not to try and explain his behaviour, but to ask some advice about the immediate steps.

He has been given a ticket with a reference starting GTREMG and been tasked with submitting his 16/17 railcard, which obviously he doesn't have.

Should we log in and submit the 16-25 railcard he does have, or should we follow the instructions on the form and not submit anything because we can't submit what they are asking for?
I don't want to make things worse by appearing to ignore the ticket, but as I can't submit the documentation they are expecting I don't know if is worse to submit the wrong thing?
I know we will get a letter at some point and that will have further instructions so would it be better to just wait for that?
I'm really worried about waiting two weeks (maybe longer) and looking like we aren't engaging with them to sort it out.

We will do our best to beg them to let us settle out of court (the templates on the forum look very helpful for that), but I am working on the principle that they will probably prosecute him, I just don't want to make things worse for him by messing up the first steps. I'm already worried that I gave him duff advice when I told him to come home instead of going back in to Hove station to admit he panic-lied then and there.

Anyway - thanks for sticking with the post this long.
All help and advice much appreciated.

The complication here is that a 16-25 Railcard (indeed railcards generally) doesn't allow a discount on a season ticket, so your son has actually underpaid by a very considerable amount. You need to factor this in when calculating the amount of a likely settlement (which IMO is still within the bounds of possibility).

That said, a settlement or a fine may hit you in the pocket but a conviction is not likely to have a massive impact on his future, even if the more serious offence under section 5 of the 1889 Act is alleged. Giving the wrong DOB is not likely to make a difference BTW.

You have already, from what you say, got some idea of how to engage with he process, but please come back to us for specific advice on his reply once the letter arrives.

jenx2seven said:

My son has done something immensely stupid.
When he turned 18 (last September) he applied for a new 16-25 rail card but has been buying a 16/17 season ticket to go with it.
He says the season ticket defaults to the 16/17 option on the app and he just carried on buying it on autopilot until this Wednesday (6th March) when he got inspected and they asked him to produce the railcard (16/17) to go with his season ticket (also 16/17).
He was travelling from Brighton to Lancing and got inspected at about 2.00pm in the afternoon just before Hove.
He realised what he had done as soon as the ticket inspector said "You have a 16/17 season ticket, please can I see your 16/17 railcard?", and instead of admitting his mistake then and there he thought to himself, "Oh crumbs, my railcard needs to match my season ticket", so he told them he didn't have it on him but that it was a 16/17 railcard. He then compounded the whole sorry mess by telling them he was 17 and giving the wrong date of birth.
He was in such a state about the lies getting out of hand, he told them he was getting off at Hove so they escorted him off the train there and filled in the ticket.
He was panicking about what he'd done (one of the inspectors told him he had nice boots in an attempt to calm him down) and rang me from outside the ticket office to ask if he should go back in and tell the truth, but I told him to just come home and we'd figure it out.
In my naivety I thought he just messed up one season ticket and that we would have to pay a fine. Having read the threads on the forum I now realise that he may have made a life-altering mistake.
He's not very functional and we usually check all this stuff for him - we pay for his travel and have been paying him the same amount since he turned 18 as we didn't realise the price had changed either.

I understand that he will be prosecuted and has absolutely no defence. I am also painfully aware that having carried his mistake forward since last September that he looks like a serial offender....even though if you knew him you would just think he was a dopey boy who doesn't cope very well with his admin. He couldn't be more sorry. The reason for coming on here is not to try and explain his behaviour, but to ask some advice about the immediate steps.

He has been given a ticket with a reference starting GTREMG and been tasked with submitting his 16/17 railcard, which obviously he doesn't have.

Should we log in and submit the 16-25 railcard he does have, or should we follow the instructions on the form and not submit anything because we can't submit what they are asking for?
I don't want to make things worse by appearing to ignore the ticket, but as I can't submit the documentation they are expecting I don't know if is worse to submit the wrong thing?
I know we will get a letter at some point and that will have further instructions so would it be better to just wait for that?
I'm really worried about waiting two weeks (maybe longer) and looking like we aren't engaging with them to sort it out.

We will do our best to beg them to let us settle out of court (the templates on the forum look very helpful for that), but I am working on the principle that they will probably prosecute him, I just don't want to make things worse for him by messing up the first steps. I'm already worried that I gave him duff advice when I told him to come home instead of going back in to Hove station to admit he panic-lied then and there.

Anyway - thanks for sticking with the post this long.
All help and advice much appreciated.

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Hi and welcome to the forum - you will get good advice here on what to do next so best you wait for 24 hours or so for people to pitch in with the best way to untangle this given what has happened.

I presume this is with Southern Railway (part of GTR)?

How long ago did this happen? (and thus how long are we waiting before their deadlines for you to respond)

Also, I would think that if you craft a decent response to the situation with help from this forum there is a strong chance that your son will not need to face prosecution - so this needs to be your objective and I'm sure people here will be able to help with this.

In the mean time I think it would be good to take action that shows that immediate steps have been taken to regularise travel correctly. This might involve buying a season ticket or it may be that buying tickets with the correct Railcard that your son has each time is the way forward because I do not believe you can buy Season Tickets with a 16-25 Railcard discount. People here can also advise on this. The reason for doing this now is that it is something you can point to when responding to the railway that shows you have taken active steps to prevent the mistake / misunderstanding (or whatever it was!) happening again. A season ticket purchase might be the most convincing way of doing that.

At each step of the way you need to be seen to be co-operating with the Railway to maximise chances of settling the matter out of court. So the immediate issue is the request to uploads the correct Railcard (which your son can not do) - never had to do this myself but knowing other parts of the Southern website I fear it might be hard to upload the wrong Railcard with any sort of explanation as to why it is wrong, but it may be that it is better to upload the wrong one and let that trigger the next stage of their 'investigation' than to be seen to ignore it.... best wait for some others advice on this aspect so you can weight it up!

30907 said:

The complication here is that a 16-25 Railcard (indeed railcards generally) doesn't allow a discount on a season ticket, so your son has actually underpaid by a very considerable amount. You need to factor this in when calculating the amount of a likely settlement (which IMO is still within the bounds of possibility).

That said, a settlement or a fine may hit you in the pocket but a conviction is not likely to have a massive impact on his future, even if the more serious offence under section 5 of the 1889 Act is alleged. Giving the wrong DOB is not likely to make a difference BTW.

You have already, from what you say, got some idea of how to engage with he process, but please come back to us for specific advice on his reply once the letter arrives.

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Thank you. I had assumed if we couldn't prevent it from ending up in court he would get a criminal record and may be faced with a custodial sentence. Is that unlikely in your experience?

WesternLancer said:

How long ago did this happen?

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The OP states it was on Wednesday 6th March.

WesternLancer said:

Hi and welcome to the forum - you will get good advice here on what to do next so best you wait for 24 hours or so for people to pitch in with the best way to untangle this given what has happened.

I presume this is with Southern Railway (part of GTR)?

How long ago did this happen? (and thus how long are we waiting before their deadlines for you to respond)

Also, I would think that if you craft a decent response to the situation with help from this forum there is a strong chance that your son will not need to face prosecution - so this needs to be your objective and I'm sure people here will be able to help with this.

In the mean time I think it would be good to take action that shows that immediate steps have been taken to regularise travel correctly. This might involve buying a season ticket or it may be that buying tickets with the correct Railcard that your son has each time is the way forward because I do not believe you can buy Season Tickets with a 16-25 Railcard discount. People here can also advise on this. The reason for doing this now is that it is something you can point to when responding to the railway that shows you have taken active steps to prevent the mistake / misunderstanding (or whatever it was!) happening again. A season ticket purchase might be the most convincing way of doing that.

At each step of the way you need to be seen to be co-operating with the Railway to maximise chances of settling the matter out of court. So the immediate issue is the request to uploads the correct Railcard (which your son can not do) - never had to do this myself but knowing other parts of the Southern website I fear it might be hard to upload the wrong Railcard with any sort of explanation as to why it is wrong, but it may be that it is better to upload the wrong one and let that trigger the next stage of their 'investigation' than to be seen to ignore it.... best wait for some others advice on this aspect so you can weight it up!

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Thank you - Ok I will wait for the advice about whether to respond to the ticket with his existing railcard, even though this isn't the one being requested. You are spot on - we had no way of typing in why we were submitting the wrong thing so we didn't risk it.

We have bought the right season ticket and checked it is showing correctly on his phone so I'll make a note that we did that as soon as we realised his mistake.

He was stopped on Wednesday 6th March at about 2.00pm so its only been a couple of days (long ones) but we also only have 14 days to respond to the ticket.

Thank you for your help - will wait for some responses about the railcard uploading.

Even if it goes to court the chances of a custodial sentence are virtually non-existent and any conviction would be fairly low level. If you handle it right, and members of this forum will advise you how best to do so, you have every chance of avoiding even going to court, but it may be expensive.

jenx2seven said:

Thank you. I had assumed if we couldn't prevent it from ending up in court he would get a criminal record and may be faced with a custodial sentence. Is that unlikely in your experience?

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Other responses on this forum indicate chances of custodial sentence virtually zero unless aggravating factors eg assaulted staff at ticket check for example

If it went to court there would be a criminal record and payments in line with fine sentences guidelines, costs etc - but due to criminal record this is best avoided if possible, which I suspect it will be, but if you son has had a season ticket to which he was not entitled to (wrongly discounted) they will expect payment likely to be in region of replacement season ticket at the correct, full price, so you can get an idea of the sum that would be for the period concerned.

Presumably the costs of an adult season ticket that you son has needed since Sept 2023 up until the date you have now bought the correct one for Brighton - Lancing (they are unlikely to just want the additional sum over and above the discounted one actually bought, but they may look sympathetically on it - problem is that mis use of 16-17 Railcard discounts are rather common on this forum as they give 50% discount not the 34% discount other railcards give, so the fraud teams and inspectors will see lots of cases of people who just happen to make that 'mistake'...)

jenx2seven said:

We have bought the right season ticket and checked it is showing correctly on his phone so I'll make a note that we did that as soon as we realised his mistake.

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Plesse, please, please, impress upon your son that he checks that he always has sufficient charge on his phone before he boards a train, or takes a battery pack with him. He must always be able to show ticket inspectors the ticket on his phone, and a dead phone could cause future problems.

jenx2seven said:

Thank you - Ok I will wait for the advice about whether to respond to the ticket with his existing railcard, even though this isn't the one being requested. You are spot on - we had no way of typing in why we were submitting the wrong thing so we didn't risk it.

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Thanks - yes, feared so. Not sure what is best to do, but I suspect within the 14 day your son needs to write to them with something that says eg 'I was requested to upload a copy of a 16-17 Railcard but unfortunately I do not have this, I have a 16-25 Railcard' and then commence the suitably worded apology for giving incorrect information when questioned, that this is regretted, seriousness of this now realised, keen to put things right and pay any sum owed for travel with the wrong ticket etc etc

You just need to know where to send it and presumably what your son was given has suitable ref numbers on that can be used so that Southern (presumably?) can match the case

jenx2seven said:

We have bought the right season ticket and checked it is showing correctly on his phone so I'll make a note that we did that as soon as we realised his mistake.

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Good move, yes this can be part of what is included in what is sent in correspondence to them (including the above suggestions from me)

jenx2seven said:

He was stopped on Wednesday 6th March at about 2.00pm so its only been a couple of days (long ones) but we also only have 14 days to respond to the ticket.

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Apols I failed to note date in your original post

jenx2seven said:

Thank you for your help - will wait for some responses about the railcard uploading.

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Yes, you have some time to weigh up what the best next steps are, also to draft up what your son wants to write (no doubt you will be helping with that), post it here for experts to check etc and still meet the 14 day deadline, tho do not leave it to the last day etc.

MotCO said:

Plesse, please, please, impress upon your son that he checks that he always has sufficient charge on his phone before he boards a train, or takes a battery pack with him. He must always be able to show ticket inspectors the ticket on his phone, and a dead phone could cause future problems.

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Useful advice, perhaps, but not really relevant to this case.

Haywain said:

Useful advice, perhaps, but not really relevant to this case.

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Yes and no. Not directly related to the specific case, but should he manage to get out of it with an out of court settlement, it’ll mean his card is marked so to speak and coming to their attention a second time might become a far bigger problem, and this is good advice given (1) the OP has stated he carries tickets via his phone and (2) he isn’t the greatest at life skills, for want of a better phrase

jenx2seven said:

I will wait for the advice about whether to respond to the ticket with his existing railcard, even though this isn't the one being requested.

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I really don't think there is any point in doing this. A 16-25 Railcard gives no discount and therefore provides no further assistance than not providing it. My view is that the best thing to do for now is sit tight and wait for a letter from GTR. When that letter arrives I think it will be important to front up about the incorrect date of birth, and accept responsibility for what has happened. Fortunately, GTR are a pragamatic company in matters like this and will seek to get their money rather than prosecute, and the costs they add tend to be on the lower side than most others.

Gloster said:

Even if it goes to court the chances of a custodial sentence are virtually non-existent and any conviction would be fairly low level. If you handle it right, and members of this forum will advise you how best to do so, you have every chance of avoiding even going to court, but it may be expensive.

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Thank you - that's very reassuring. We figuring out how we'll afford it, but anything would be preferable to court. Don't know what I would have done without this forum.

WesternLancer said:

Other responses on this forum indicate chances of custodial sentence virtually zero unless aggravating factors eg assaulted staff at ticket check for example

If it went to court there would be a criminal record and payments in line with fine sentences guidelines, costs etc - but due to criminal record this is best avoided if possible, which I suspect it will be, but if you son has had a season ticket to which he was not entitled to (wrongly discounted) they will expect payment likely to be in region of replacement season ticket at the correct, full price, so you can get an idea of the sum that would be for the period concerned.

Presumably the costs of an adult season ticket that you son has needed since Sept 2023 up until the date you have now bought the correct one for Brighton - Lancing (they are unlikely to just want the additional sum over and above the discounted one actually bought, but they may look sympathetically on it - problem is that mis use of 16-17 Railcard discounts are rather common on this forum as they give 50% discount not the 34% discount other railcards give, so the fraud teams and inspectors will see lots of cases of people who just happen to make that 'mistake'...)

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Yes - I do appreciate the whole thing sounds very 'convenient'. If we'd been giving him the full amount each month and he'd been saving the difference by choosing to buy the wrong thing I might not have believed him so readily, but he's had no benefit from doing this, and he's got nothing against Southern rail (it wasn't a protest). Given what they can do with your payment records and travel records these days you'd have to expect to get caught......We're braced for a big bill, but as its only what we should have been paying, I can't complain about that.

MotCO said:

Plesse, please, please, impress upon your son that he checks that he always has sufficient charge on his phone before he boards a train, or takes a battery pack with him. He must always be able to show ticket inspectors the ticket on his phone, and a dead phone could cause future problems.

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Thank you - I hadn't thought of this - will do!!

This is going to be a huge lesson to your son. But assuming he can afford whatever settlement offer comes (which seems the likeliest outcome), it will be a lesson learnt and he won't do it again (and neither will his friends). If he hasn't already, it might be a good idea for him to generate some income somehow.

Hope it goes well

jenx2seven said:

Yes - I do appreciate the whole thing sounds very 'convenient'. If we'd been giving him the full amount each month and he'd been saving the difference by choosing to buy the wrong thing I might not have believed him so readily, but he's had no benefit from doing this, and he's got nothing against Southern rail (it wasn't a protest). Given what they can do with your payment records and travel records these days you'd have to expect to get caught......We're braced for a big bill, but as its only what we should have been paying, I can't complain about that.

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Yes, fully understand that as far as you and your son concerned this is an oversight based at worst on failure to understand how things changed after end of validity for 16-17 Railcard - but as you have of course realised the tricky bit is persuading Southern of that and that your son is not a dedicated fare evader.

But I think this is possible to do, and thus avoid prosecution. The general advice that @Hadders gives on many threads will apply here as in many cases, I'm sure.

Welcome to the forum!

This sounds like an unfortunate incident. Firstly, your son won't be going to prison over this, in the grand scheme of things it's a relatively minor railway ticketing matter, albeit ine that has been going on for some time. Secondly, Govia Thameslink Railway (who operate the trains branded Southern) are one of the more pragmatic train companies to deal with.

The immediate issue you face is how to deal with having to upload the 16-17 Railcard which your son doesn't have. I would write a short, concise letter to GTR explaining what has happened. Apologise and ask if they would consider allowing you to pay the outstanding fares plus their admin fees in dealing with the matter. Upload the letter to the place where you have been asked to upload the railcard. Alternatively you could send it to their Prosecutions Department if the address is on the paperwork your son was given.

Although I can't guarantee it, I expect GTR will offer an out of court settlement. Be prepared to have to pay the fares based on the full Anytime rate and you'll likely be charged an admin fee of around £150, although we have seen cases where GTR have been a bit more lenient.

An out of court settlement might feel like a fine but technically it isn't - only a court can impose a fine as a punishment following conviction. There is no criminal record as a result of paying an out of court settlement.

One further point - exactly what season ticket has your son been using, specifically when was it purchased and what was its expiry date. The 16-17 Railcard website says:

The 16-17 Saver is valid for one year or until your 18th birthday, whichever comes first.

If you buy a discounted Season ticket before your 16-17 Saver expires, you can keep using your discounted Season ticket for up to four months after the expiry of your 16-17 Saver, as long as your Season ticket is still valid. The two expiry dates are shown on your 16-17 Saver.

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Please do upload a copy of your draft letter in this thread and we will be happy to proof read it for you.

Hi Hadders and everyone,
Thank you so much for your help with this.
To answer your question - he buys his season tickets monthly, so he's perpetuated the mistake for 5 months. The one he was using when he was inspected had been bought in February 2024 and was due to expire later in March 2024. I think I can get copies if I'm likely to need the exact dates, but sadly there is no hope that he was using an annual season ticket until January 2024 and then bought the wrong one. Let me know if I am misunderstanding and I'll get the details.

I've had a go at writing the first letter as there is an address on the ticket he was given, so all and any feedback would be very much appreciated....

To: The Prosecutions Team Govia Thameslink Railway
Re: Inspection Report GTREMXXXXXXX
Name: XXXXXX
Date of Inspection: 06/03/2024, 14.37

Dear Sir/Madam,

I was inspected on the train from Brighton to Hove on the above date and as a result of purchasing the wrong season ticket (16/17 saver), I was asked to send you proof of the associated 16/17 railcard.

I would like to apologise profusely, but I have been mistakenly buying the 16/17 monthly season ticket since I turned 18 last September. I carried on buying the option that I'd been using since I started rail travel on autopilot.
This was a stupid but genuine error and I have taken immediate steps to correct it to make sure it can't happen again. Please find attached a copy of the correct season ticket that I purchased immediately after the inspection.
For information, I have also included my 16-25 railcard to confirm that I am in possession of the correct railcard for all relevant future transactions.

Please could you send me details of how I can pay the balance of the amounts owed on the previous season tickets purchased, plus any administration costs you have incurred as a result of this process.

I do understand that making this mistake in the first place was serious enough, so I can only apologise for perpetuating it. It honestly wasn't a calculated attempt to get away with not paying for my rail travel and I would very much like to make up the difference now if you were able to give me the opportunity. I am very sorry for the inconvenience I have caused.

Yours Faithfully,

XXXXXX

It looks good to me. No harm in asking to pay the fare difference, although be prepared for GTR to require the full fares to be repaid.

I suggest just one tiny amendment:
instead of "(16/17 Saver)" write "(based on a 16/17 Saver)".

“Serious enough” gives the expectation
that there is another greater offence you are about to mention. I would replace by “very serious”.

Other than that, it’s a very good letter imo.

My only comment is that, with due respect, it doesn't sound like it was written by an 18 year old. Extrapolating that, would the rail company think that the 18 year old is sincere in his remorse, or are his parents apologising on his behalf?

I would get your son to read this letter (if he hasn't already) and change parts of it to how he would say things whilst keeping the main sentiments of the letter.

(Apologies if I come across as too critical, but we obviously want the best outcome.)

I think the letter’s good. The only things I’d consider changing are:

2nd paragraph at the end add ‘for any all relevant transactions not covered by my season ticket’.

3rd paragraph I’d re-word slightly to say ‘I wondered if it would be possible to deal with issue by me paying the outstanding fares plus your administrative costs in dealing with the matter.’

Please do let us know how you get on.

Although might be sensible to advise when first monthly ticket after 18th birthday ran out (as that was valid until it expired, being under 4 months continuation), as fares due commence when next ticket was bought (presumably late Sept or early Oct 2023).

Not essential but technically don't won't to pay for few extra weeks back to birthday date, but from first ticket bought after the birthday

fandroid said:

It looks good to me. No harm in asking to pay the fare difference, although be prepared for GTR to require the full fares to be repaid.

I suggest just one tiny amendment:
instead of "(16/17 Saver)" write "(based on a 16/17 Saver)".

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Thank you - will do - makes more sense

Brissle Girl said:

“Serious enough” gives the expectation
that there is another greater offence you are about to mention. I would replace by “very serious”.

Other than that, it’s a very good letter imo.

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Thank you - that's much better wording

MotCO said:

My only comment is that, with due respect, it doesn't sound like it was written by an 18 year old. Extrapolating that, would the rail company think that the 18 year old is sincere in his remorse, or are his parents apologising on his behalf?

I would get your son to read this letter (if he hasn't already) and change parts of it to how he would say things whilst keeping the main sentiments of the letter.

(Apologies if I come across as too critical, but we obviously want the best outcome.)

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This is a good idea - I will get him to put it in to his own words but keep the meaning. Thank you

Hadders said:

I think the letter’s good. The only things I’d consider changing are:

2nd paragraph at the end add ‘for any all relevant transactions not covered by my season ticket’.

3rd paragraph I’d re-word slightly to say ‘I wondered if it would be possible to deal with issue by me paying the outstanding fares plus your administrative costs in dealing with the matter.’

Please do let us know how you get on.

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Brilliant - have added these in too - thank you. I will let you know how it goes

Snow1964 said:

Although might be sensible to advise when first monthly ticket after 18th birthday ran out (as that was valid until it expired, being under 4 months continuation), as fares due commence when next ticket was bought (presumably late Sept or early Oct 2023).

Not essential but technically don't won't to pay for few extra weeks back to birthday date, but from first ticket bought after the birthday

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ah yes - good idea. I'll double check this too. Thank you
Crumbs, I wish the whole internet was like this. Everyone is so constructive and nice here....

jenx2seven said:

Crumbs, I wish the whole internet was like this. Everyone is so constructive and nice here....

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You’re very welcome!

We do pride ourselves the the quality of the advice we give in this section of the forum.

One extra thought. We come across many young people who either deliberately claim to have a 16-17 saver when they don't, or assume that the discount applies just because they are that age, without actually possessing the Saver.

The important thing to understand is that GTR will have seen a lot of this too, and will want to know whether that Saver ever existed.

Assuming that your son did have a valid Saver until he was 18, then he should include evidence of this with the letter.

fandroid said:

One extra thought. We come across many young people who either deliberately claim to have a 16-17 saver when they don't, or assume that the discount applies just because they are that age, without actually possessing the Saver.

The important thing to understand is that GTR will have seen a lot of this too, and will want to know whether that Saver ever existed.

Assuming that your son did have a valid Saver until he was 18, then he should include evidence of this with the letter.

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Will do - thank you. Fingers crossed - its going off today.

jenx2seven said:

Will do - thank you. Fingers crossed - it's going off today.

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whatever the outcome, please keep the thread informed about any updates, as it helps next person get better advice.

Hello again, Just wanted to let everyone know that we heard back from the prosecutions team exactly 14 working days after they received our letter.
We received a request to settle the matter for a fee (just under £60.00). This was a lot less than we were expecting but I'm obviously not complaining and it's been paid.
I just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone that helped with advice and with correcting the letter.
He's out at work today to pay me back and he's never, ever going to mess up his train ticket again - valuable lesson learned. Thanks all!

That’s good news! Thanks for letting us know.