How to approach a prosecution from a train company around fare avoidance?

[emiche7]

I'm originally from the US and have lived in the UK for 3.5 years. I've used the trains quite a bit in the various locations I've lived within the UK, but hadn't spent the time getting to know the rules like I maybe should have.

I moved to Oxfordshire from Kent in late June 2024 and started using Cherwell. In late August, I travelled with my wife to Birmingham for an event for one of her friends. I had decided to go last second and hadn't bought my ticket yet when we hiked it to the station. We got there without any time to spare, so I figured I would jump on the train and buy the ticket when I sat down, rather than wait for a later train. I had seen passengers buy tickets from the inspector on board Southeastern trains at least a few times in Kent, so didn't see it as a major issue. It's also allowed where I'm from in the US. I bought the tickets once on the train (£12 round-trip) and then used the bathroom on the train. When I got back, I showed the ticket inspector my ticket, not thinking anything of it. Because the time of purchase was after the train had left and he had seen me go to the bathroom, he concluded that I was attempting to avoid paying and only bought the ticket when I saw him coming. A report was filed and this weekend I received a pack in the mail notifying me that I am being prosecuted.

I'm currently just trying to assess my options and understand the potential consequences. I can plead guilty and pay a fine of about £150, but I would have a criminal conviction. I could plead not guilty and argue my case in court. I feel confident that I can represent myself well and make it clear that it was an honest mistake, but at the end of the day I didn't have a ticket at the point of getting on the train, so not confident at all that I wouldn't be convicted anyways. It was genuinely not something I thought was a problem, but is ignorance of the rule an excuse? Maybe not. I suppose I could also see if the rail company (Cherwell) would settle out of court, but my guess is that the cost would be much higher than the £150.

Having a criminal conviction would be not optimal at all and I'll have to look into all of the consequences that could result from this, but my initial worry is that this could hurt my chances of getting the spousal visa renewed in two years.

Any thoughts or suggestions on best plan of action? Thanks!

 

[Titfield]

Please can you upload the documentation you have received (with personal details and reference redacted)?

It seems unlikely that a matter such as this would go straight to court without you being given the opportunity to provide an explanation.

 

[AlterEgo]

It’s important to see the correspondence, first, but you should know it’s a criminal offence to board a train without a valid ticket where ticket purchasing facilities (machine/booking office) exist at your origin station. If they’re threatening a Bylaw 18 offence this is strict liability and no intent to evade the fare need be proven; the offence is made out immediately upon boarding and you have no case.

 

[emiche7]

Please can you upload the documentation you have received (with personal details and reference redacted)?

It seems unlikely that a matter such as this would go straight to court without you being given the opportunity to provide an explanation.

Here are the documents received. I was mailed a letter in October notifying me that they were planning to prosecute and if I had any explanation/mitigating circumstances to email a Chiltern address with details. I emailed an explanation over but did not hear anything back.

 

[AlterEgo]

Did Chiltern only send this out, or was there also a covering letter inviting you to settle the matter out of court?

To correct your assumption, the £175 isn’t the fine. That’s Chiltern’s costs. The fine is decided by the magistrates’ court as punishment for for the offence and is linked to your income (to a maximum of £1000), and you will have to pay 40% surcharge on that too.

What did you say in your email to Chiltern? Did you say you were not guilty of the offence and you wished for them to not prosecute you, or did you apologise and ask to settle the matter out of court?

 

[alholmes]

This is unusual. Typically if you engage positively with Chiltern at the earlier stage (in October) there’s a strong possibility that they’d settle out of court.

So either they just haven’t read your email response from October, or you’ve said something in it that they don’t like and decided to prosecute instead.

You want to avoid prosecution presumably, so an out of court settlement is what you are seeking. These documents have a 21 day deadline from the date of posting (which you’ve redacted) so ideally you should contact Chiltern as quickly as possible to see if they will offer to settle out of court, and if so pay it before the 21 day deadline.

 

[Haywain]

I was mailed a letter in October notifying me that they were planning to prosecute and if I had any explanation/mitigating circumstances to email a Chiltern address with details.

It would help if you could post the letter you received and your reply.

 

[emiche7]

It would help if you could post the letter you received and your reply.

Here is the initial letter they sent in October. I emailed on the 1st or 2nd November, admittedly after the 14 days as I was out of the country from 3 October until 1 November and this was only communicated through post (proof of flights were attached to the email). I'm trying to find the email at the moment and will upload once I get it but consisted of a detailed explanation of the events that took place on the date from the arrival at the station to the interaction with train staff with my overall message being: this is why I boarded the train without a ticket, I didn't realise that it would lead to an issue, I purchased the ticket as soon as I boarded/not once confronted, attached proof of ticket purchase with the time (11:14) and said that if we look at any CCTV footage we will see that the ticket was purchased immediately after boarding and prior to the inspector entering the train car. Ended with something like "I hope you find this explanation satisfactory. Please reach out if any further evidence or information is needed".

 

[AlterEgo]

If you admitted boarding the train without a ticket in your reply you incriminated yourself I’m afraid. The very crux of the issue is Bylaw 18:

18. Ticketless travel in non-compulsory ticket areas​

1. in any area not designated as a compulsory ticket area, no person shall enter any train for the purpose of travelling on the railway unless he has with him a valid ticket entitling him to travel

That’s it. That’s the whole offence.

At this point you don’t want to go to court. You will be convicted and have no defence. This isn’t about fare evasion, or intent, it’s only about boarding a train without a valid ticket (where there was opportunity to buy beforehand).

@Hadders advises the usual template reply which you should send at this stage, covering the following (and I copy and paste this verbatim from their usual contributions):

The sort of things to include in your reoly are:

- 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

If you post a draft copy of your reply in this thread forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.

 

[emiche7]

If you admitted boarding the train without a ticket in your reply you incriminated yourself I’m afraid. The very crux of the issue is Bylaw 18:


That’s it. That’s the whole offence.

At this point you don’t want to go to court. You will be convicted and have no defence. This isn’t about fare evasion, or intent, it’s only about boarding a train without a valid ticket (where there was opportunity to buy beforehand).

@Hadders advises the usual template reply which you should send at this stage, covering the following (and I copy and paste this verbatim from their usual contributions):

The sort of things to include in your reoly are:

- 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

If you post a draft copy of your reply in this thread forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.

This makes sense, many thanks. Looks like my next step then is to get this email together. I'll type it out going off the format provided and will post it on this thread, many thanks to everyone for the help.

I assume that this is best sent to the Chiltern Fraud Dept. email address. I never did get a reply to the initial email, so will just have to reach out through other means if I don't hear back from them within a few days this time (I received the documents today, so should have enough time).

For my reference, would you have any info on what the consequences of having this conviction on my record (if I'm unable to settle out of court) would be? Being from the US and having had no prior legal issues, I don't have a solid understanding of the matter.

Thanks again

 

[WesternLancer]

This makes sense, many thanks. Looks like my next step then is to get this email together. I'll type it out going off the format provided and will post it on this thread, many thanks to everyone for the help.

I assume that this is best sent to the Chiltern Fraud Dept. email address. I never did get a reply to the initial email, so will just have to reach out through other means if I don't hear back from them within a few days this time (I received the documents today, so should have enough time).

For my reference, would you have any info on what the consequences of having this conviction on my record (if I'm unable to settle out of court) would be? Being from the US and having had no prior legal issues, I don't have a solid understanding of the matter.

Thanks again

You need to send it to the railway company fraud / prosecution team. E mail it and also print and post it. Send the posted copy tracked from a post office. Keep copies of everything.

Don’t go into lengthy stuff about why it happened.
The important thing is to assure them there was no intention to deliberately not pay the correct fare / evade payment of fare.

 

[zero]

Having a criminal conviction would be not optimal at all and I'll have to look into all of the consequences that could result from this, but my initial worry is that this could hurt my chances of getting the spousal visa renewed in two years.

Only registered immigration advisors can advise on your spouse visa, but articles such as https://www.otssolicitors.co.uk/new...family-visa-if-you-have-a-criminal-conviction provide general information.

With a criminal conviction, processing time for your visa will take longer as the caseworker will need to look up the details.

 

[emiche7]

You need to send it to the railway company fraud / prosecution team. E mail it and also print and post it. Send the posted copy tracked from a post office. Keep copies of everything.

Don’t go into lengthy stuff about why it happened.
The important thing is to assure them there was no intention to deliberately not pay the correct fare / evade payment of fare.

Here is my first draft of the letter to be sent to Chiltern requesting an out of court settlement. If anyone has any feedback it would be hugely appreciated. Thanks!

 

[tonycockram]

That letter just reeks of ai. Just follow the advice given already, apologise for the mistake you’ve made, explain you want to settle without the need for it continuing through the court system.
Some of the phrases used in that letter created just would not be in any normal letter.

 

[AlterEgo]

Here is my first draft of the letter to be sent to Chiltern requesting an out of court settlement. If anyone has any feedback it would be hugely appreciated. Thanks!

I think that's fine. I'd take out the bit about striving to be a law abiding passenger, it is a bit OTT. I'd be surprised if they didn't settle.

 

[emiche7]

I think that's fine. I'd take out the bit about striving to be a law abiding passenger, it is a bit OTT. I'd be surprised if they didn't settle.

Great, thanks! I'll make the edit and send over to them. Thanks for all of your help!

 

[furlong]

What was your station of origin? Some of Chiltern's services run from stations with compulsory ticket areas (CTAs). Their charge relies on the assertion that this station was not one of those, but you should check this for yourself. (The statement might also mislead - buying a ticket after boarding obviously does not make it invalid and arguably its cost should be deducted from any compensation awarded for the fare - and equally I don't see how an article about 'pay when challenged' has any relevance.)

 

[emiche7]

Update - They have gotten back to me and have agreed to withdrawn the Single Justice Procedure paperwork if a payment of £192 is made (I've just paid this). They did say that a communication was sent in December, which never did make it to me.

Should I be expecting official confirmation that they are dropping the prosecution shortly? The deadline to plead guity/not guilty is in 2 weeks and I would still be uncomfortable in just assuming that it has been settled without any official paperwork. I have asked them this but also wanted to get opionions on here.

Many thanks to everyone for the advice. It's been a big help.

 

[island]

How did they contact you to tell you they would accept a £192 settlement? By email or letter, presumably? That plus the payment receipt should be retained. It would also be worth sending a copy of same to the court confirming the matter has been closed. We have seen a small number of cases where a prosecution was not withdrawn after a settlement and the defendant was convicted, which took more effort on their part to sort out.

 

[emiche7]

How did they contact you to tell you they would accept a £192 settlement? By email or letter, presumably? That plus the payment receipt should be retained. It would also be worth sending a copy of same to the court confirming the matter has been closed. We have seen a small number of cases where a prosecution was not withdrawn after a settlement and the defendant was convicted, which took more effort on their part to sort out.

This was through email. I have received both confirmation of payment through email, as well as Chiltern's response indicating that the case is now closed. I can go ahead and print/mail to the court to cover my back.