Accused of Fare Evasion for having Incorrect Ticket

[traintrain1234]

Hi all,

I’ve struggled to find reliable advice about this issue and would really appreciate any help that contributors on this site might be able to offer.

In short - I boarded a Chiltern Railways train without a ticket as the ticket machine was broken and the ticket office closed. On the train I wasn’t concerned as I presumed when the ticket inspector came by I could explain the broken machine and buy a ticket from my home station. After a few stations passed and no inspector came through, I tried to buy a ticket on Trainline and realised I was unable to buy a ticket from a station that had passed. At this point I became a bit worried and, thinking it was better to have a ticket than none, I purchased a ticket through Trainline from a station coming up (the difference was about £5). At my destination I went to collect this ticket from the office and was challenged by someone who introduced himself as an Anti-Fraud Officer.

I immediately admitted the ticket wasn’t right and tried to apologise for having got myself in a tangle. However the officer seemed convinced I was a deliberate and premeditated fare evader. He recorded my ID, put me under caution and ran me through a list of questions which, genuinely dumbstruck, I pretty much just nodded along to. He then thanked me for being polite, said a letter would come through the post and sent me on my way. It was all over in 10 minutes.

Shortly after I googled what had just happened to me, panicked, got hold of an email address for Chiltern Rail and emailed them to reiterate my apology for having had an incorrect ticket, and offered to pay any costs.

It’s been a week and no letter yet. The only reply to my email was to say they are yet to consider my case.

What is going to happen?

Thank you

 

[30907]

By buying a ticket from somewhere other than your starting point you were "short-faring" - a particularly common practice, it seems, on Chiltern (or at least, one that they look out for - Wembley Stadium is apparently a favourite).

In the fullness of time - and it may be some time - you will probably receive a letter on behalf of Chiltern asking for your account of things. There is excellent advice here as to how to reply

https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...ecution-expired-railcard.227585/#post-5511059

The end result may well be that you can agree an administrative settlement (I assume this is your first time!) and even if not, it isn't the end of the world, your career, your reputation or other things people worry about.

For future reference:
1. If there is no opportunity to buy at your station, you are entitled to pay at destination and staff should be aware of broken machines, closed offices etc.
2. Most if not all Chiltern trains do not have ticket-sellers on board.
3. Most train tickets are not tied to a specific train, so if you board without a ticket (and 1 does not apply) it is better to use the time of the next train from there - you could still get grief but have at least paid the right fare.)

 

[Darandio]

After a few stations passed and no inspector came through, I tried to buy a ticket on Trainline and realised I was unable to buy a ticket from a station that had passed.

Someone will be along shortly with more in depth advice but i'm not sure this particular point is true. The Trainline or any other similar site will allow you to purchase a ticket between any stations for which a fare exists.

 

[traintrain1234]

Hi thanks for replying so quickly - on the Trainline app the options for earlier stations were greyed out once passed, with the message ‘purchase not available’ (or words to that effect).

Someone will be along shortly with more in depth advice but i'm not sure this particular point is true. The Trainline or any other similar site will allow you to purchase a ticket between any stations for which a fare exists.

By buying a ticket from somewhere other than your starting point you were "short-faring" - a particularly common practice, it seems, on Chiltern (or at least, one that they look out for - Wembley Stadium is apparently a favourite).

In the fullness of time - and it may be some time - you will probably receive a letter on behalf of Chiltern asking for your account of things. There is excellent advice here as to how to reply

https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...ecution-expired-railcard.227585/#post-5511059

The end result may well be that you can agree an administrative settlement (I assume this is your first time!) and even if not, it isn't the end of the world, your career, your reputation or other things people worry about.

For future reference:
1. If there is no opportunity to buy at your station, you are entitled to pay at destination and staff should be aware of broken machines, closed offices etc.
2. Most if not all Chiltern trains do not have ticket-sellers on board.
3. Most train tickets are not tied to a specific train, so if you board without a ticket (and 1 does not apply) it is better to use the time of the next train from there - you could still get grief but have at least paid the right fare.)

Thank you also for your reply. All I can say on your three points is that at the time it was late at night, I was very tired and not really thinking. Having a sightly incorrect fare honestly didn’t seem a big deal in the grand scheme of things (from first principles I would maintain this is an entirely defensible view!).

It absolutely was the first time this has happened and I immediately apologised for the error. Would you have any view of how likely a settlement fee would be, and whether Chiltern will offer this in their letter or I need to suggest it in my reply?

Thanks again

 

[MotCO]

Hi thanks for replying so quickly - on the Trainline app the options for earlier stations were greyed out once passed, with the message ‘purchase not available’ (or words to that effect).

Presumably you were trying to buy a ticket for the exact train you were on. If you had put a different time in the app, you may have been able to buy a suitable ticket.

 

[traintrain1234]

Presumably you were trying to buy a ticket for the exact train you were on. If you had put a different time in the app, you may have been able to buy a suitable ticket.

That’s right

Specifically, I’m really unsure on these points:

* Since it’s a first offence, a very small monetary difference, and I genuinely tried to be as apologetic and cooperative as possible, what is the chance of getting a settlement?

* If they do (in my mind totally disproportionately) try to take me to court, what would I be charged under?

* In any case, have I received a caution, if I was formally interviewed by the Revenue Officer?

Thank you!

 

[Fawkes Cat]

That’s right

Specifically, I’m really unsure on these points:

* Since it’s a first offence, a very small monetary difference, and I genuinely tried to be as apologetic and cooperative as possible, what is the chance of getting a settlement?

* If they do (in my mind totally disproportionately) try to take me to court, what would I be charged under?

* In any case, have I received a caution, if I was formally interviewed by the Revenue Officer?

Thank you!

To start with, think how it will look to Chiltern. What they know is that they found you about to collect a short ticket that you had bought on the train, and you asserted that you had been unable to buy a ticket at your origin. They are likely to interpret this as meaning that you intentionally bought a short ticket as a way of making sure that you could get out of the station at your destination, and you made up your story about being unable to buy a ticket at your origin.

While if things end up in court it’s for Chiltern (as the prosecution) to prove their version of what happened rather than you to disprove it, it’s worth thinking now about what there is or might be to support your version of the story. That means making some notes now before you forget the detail: most obviously, note what station you started at, what time you got there for your train, and how the ticket machine was broken (had someone put a rock through it? Did it have the Blue Screen of Death rather than its usual program? Something else?)

To your specific questions:

- there’s probably a fairly good chance of getting a settlement, but it can’t be guaranteed. You need to bear in mind that even though your short-faring was accidental, the rules are still that if you can you should have a valid ticket before boarding the train. So even if you had bought a paper ticket from your origin to your destination on Trainline, the fact that you did not have the ticket on you would have put you wrong in law.

- there are two plausible charges you might face. One is under railway byelaw 18, which you breach if you don’t have a valid ticket: the other is under the Regulation of Railways Act, which you breach if you intended to travel without a valid ticket. In practice, both offences are dealt with at the magistrates’ court and lead to a fine and costs - you don’t go to prison for getting a train fare wrong. On rare occasions, prosecution for fraud is an alternative: in my view the chances of being charged with fraud for one instance of short-faring is vanishingly small.

- confusingly, there are two sorts of cautions in the criminal law process. One is being interviewed under caution (which is what happened to you). The other is being cautioned by the police that if you offend again you won’t get off so lightly - so that sort of caution is an alternative sanction that the prosecutors can choose to use instead of taking you to court. It’s only the second sort of caution that can appear on a DBS or that insurers and so on want to know about. I don’t know of any circumstances where you would be obliged to tell anyone about being interviewed under caution.

 

[AlterEgo]

Where you you travelling from? And which station did you purchase the ticket to be valid from?

 

[Watershed]

Since it’s a first offence, a very small monetary difference, and I genuinely tried to be as apologetic and cooperative as possible, what is the chance of getting a settlement?

Provided they don't think you've done this before, you probably have a reasonable chance of eventually getting one. You may have to write to them a few times to get them to offer one, especially if your case it dealt with by the infamous contractor TIL (Transport Investigations Ltd). They may have taken details of your Trainline account, to see if you have bought any other tickets which could indicate 'donutting' or short faring.

If they do (in my mind totally disproportionately) try to take me to court, what would I be charged under?

Section 5(3)(a) of the Regulation of Railways Act 1889 (often called RoRA) - this makes it an offence to travel on the railway without previously having paid your fare (this is clearly the case - you boarded without a ticket) and with intent to avoid payment thereof.

The latter is the point where you might feel you should argue "I didn't try to avoid the fare - I tried to pay something and intended to pay at the other end".

But although you may say that, you have to think of what the situation looks like to an outsider (ultimately the judge or magistrate if it goes to Court).

It would be a very strange course of action for someone to board without a ticket, at a station without ticket facilities - clearly thinking that this must be OK, otherwise they wouldn't have boarded - and then yet to decide at some point to buy a ticket for only part of the journey.

If they have the Trainline app and were willing to use it to buy a ticket, why didn't they do so to begin with? And why didn't they simply select another train, so as to buy a ticket from the correct station? Were they really going to say "actually, I boarded at X" and offer to pay the difference?

Clearly you can see there is a credibility issue here - had you simply bought a ticket for the correct station (even if you had not collected it), or had you gone to the excess fares window and asked to buy a ticket from your origin, there could be no suggestion you were avoiding your fare. But by buying a ticket for just part of your journey, your actions were very similar to those of fare dodgers, and accordingly any account you give is likely to be given short shrift.

Now, is that disproportionate? Absolutely, I would agree. There is no reason why the railway justifies having its own offence it can use to prosecute customers it has a disagreement with. But the law stands, and so you've got to deal with the situation as it is.

If you were convicted under RoRA, the Sentencing Guidelines suggest the penalty would range between a conditional discharge (i.e. stay out of trouble for X months/years and nothing more will happen), a fine of 50-175% of your weekly income, or a low level community order (i.e. curfew, community service etc.).

The most common penalty is simply a fine - and provided your case was judged to have lower culpability and lower harm, that's what the starting point is. The aggravating factor that you tried to pass as a legitimate fare payer, might be balanced out by the mitigating factor that you (presumably) have no previous convictions and have shown remorse.

If convicted, you would also be ordered to pay court costs, the prosecution's costs, the fare outstanding and the victim surcharge. Clearly that could add up to quite a substantial sum. You would also have a conviction (i.e. criminal record), although for most purposes, you would no longer have to declare it after 1 year.

In any case, have I received a caution, if I was formally interviewed by the Revenue Officer?

The term "caution" rather unhelpfully has two different meanings in criminal law.

The first is a statement of rights that must be read before an interview can take place with someone suspected of committing a crime (which is then known as an "interview under caution"). It starts "you do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence...". It is simply a warning, if you will, and there is nothing to agree to before you have received it - nor is there any sort of record of people who have been cautioned.

The second is effectively a 'slap on the wrist' that the police can offer as a means of dealing with a minor criminal offence, without it going to court. It must be accepted by the suspect for it to come into force - so you would know if you had received this kind of caution. Records are kept of this kind of caution, and it does qualify as a conviction for certain purposes (some immigration questions or detailed background checks etc.).

Clearly you have received the first type of caution, not the second. You do not have a criminal record purely because you've been interviewed under caution.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

Here's the advice I normally give to people who come here seeking our advice in circumstyances similar to yours.

You are likely to receive a letter from the train company (or an investigation company acting on their behalf) which will probably take a few weeks to arrive saying that they have received a report, are considering prosecuting you and asking for your version of events. It is important that you engage with and reply to this letter. You might want to include the following in your reply:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the train company's administrative costs in dealing with the matter

Make sure your reply is short and concise, don't give a sob story - they've heard it all before. Most train companies are usually prepared to offer an administrative settlement (commonly known as an out of court settlement) for people who engage with the process and who haven't come to their attention before. There is no guarantee of this and the train company would be well within their rights to prosecute you in the magistrates court.

If you are offered a settlement the amount varies depending on the train company and circumstances but tend to be a few hundred pounds plus the outstanding fare. An out of court settlement might appear to be a fine, but it isn't and you won't have a criminal record as a result of accepting one.

Once you receive a letter from the train company it would hekp if you could post a copy of it here, with any personal details redacted. If you post a copy of your draft reply to the letter in this thread I'm sure forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.

 

[robbeech]

Have you at any point confirmed with Chiltern that at the time you boarded at your origin the ticket office was closed and the ticket machine was out of order? This seems to be a fairly crucial point and the longer this is left the easier it will be for them to lie about it.

In theory there should be no reason why confirmation that :
A) the ticket office was closed
B) the ticket machine was not working
C) no guard came through the train
D) your understanding of how retail apps work is limited to what any regular passenger would expect and you were unaware that you could select any train
Shouldn’t result in you being allowed to pay the fare due. Infact if all of the above is true then the railway would have absolutely zero right to do any more than this. Of course, the problem we have is this is The Railway where you are guilty just because you dared to use it. As such, the railway letting you down may end up costing you several hundred pounds. This would seem remarkably surreal in most industries.

 

[island]

there are two plausible charges you might face. One is under railway byelaw 18, which you breach if you don’t have a valid ticket

Just to note that if, as the OP says, there were no ticketing facilities in operation at the station where they started their journey, no byelaw 18 offence could be committed.