Panic can be caused by many things. I;ve been in a major panic having lost my wallet, it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that being unable to find a railcard that youw ere sure you had may bring out similar emotions.
As to a previous address, I thnk it depends how long you lived there and how recently you moved. After living at one address for nine years, it did take me a couple of weeks to reprogram my automatic repsonses when I moved! It's the same with phone numbers!
In this case, I agree that the OP should seek some form of legal advice. It would be easy to argue that their actiosn are those of a deliberate fare evader, though that could be refuted to some extent if they could provide proof of having a railcard at the time of the offence. What is harder to defend is giving a compeltely wrong address that is not even recent. My own personal opinion is that a court would find it harder to believe that it was a result of panic, and more a deliberate attempt to evade the penalty.
As to a previous address, I thnk it depends how long you lived there and how recently you moved. After living at one address for nine years, it did take me a couple of weeks to reprogram my automatic repsonses when I moved! It's the same with phone numbers!
In this case, I agree that the OP should seek some form of legal advice. It would be easy to argue that their actiosn are those of a deliberate fare evader, though that could be refuted to some extent if they could provide proof of having a railcard at the time of the offence. What is harder to defend is giving a compeltely wrong address that is not even recent. My own personal opinion is that a court would find it harder to believe that it was a result of panic, and more a deliberate attempt to evade the penalty.