Caught when using someone else’s oyster

[CUBE777]

Hello all

I am living in another country but mu sister lives in UK currently. She wad using her husband’s oyster card for a while and caught the other day. She has been informed that she will get a letter and maybe this will go to court as well. She is so afraid right now if this is criminal case as she has an open residence application right now plus working in a company. She will pay the fine for sure but she is afraid if this is a criminal record which can affect her residence application and her job.

Any suggestion if she should consider hiring a solicitor. To be honest, she has also no contact in this area to help her.

I have realized this happened some other people too. Any chance to manage is out of court and settle down. How previous cases solved?

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

I assume you've been stopped by someone working for Transport for London. I assume your sister's husband has a student Oyster card giving very generous discounted travel. Tfl take misuse of these sort of passes very seriously, and prosecution under the TfL Bylaws is the normal outcome.

TfL will send you a verification letter asking whether you admit or deny the offence, there is also an opportunity to give any mitigating circumstances you want them to take into account when deciding how to proceed. TfL normally send letters reasonable quickly, usually within a few weeks. Being found guilty of (or pleading guilty to) does mean you have a criminal conviction but it isn't normally recorded on the Police National Computer and doesn't normally appear on a DBS check.

Here’s a link to TfL’s Revenue Enforcement and Prosecutions Policy which gives more information.

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/revenue-enforcement-and-prosecutions-policy.pdf

We are unable to advise on residency applications.