Hi All!
First of all, I want to thank everyone who is here to help, I really appreciate your time.
I want to start from mentioning that my English is not perfect as I started to learn it only couple of years ago. So I’m sorry in forward for any misunderstandings.
The reason I’m here is that I’ve been stopped by a ticket inspector during my trip to Central London. The (lady) inspector asked me to show her my ticket. I did it. She checked the ticket and kept walking down the train. I understood that it’s all OK, because I had an Oyster Card with enough credits to cover my journey and the Travel Card for zones 3-5. A minute or less later she came back with another (man) inspector and the lady told me that I don’t have a valid ticket with me and I have only two options:
1. Pay the fine of £20; or
2. To be reported, prosecuted and pay the way bigger fine.
I was shocked, but after I heard that I might be prosecuted for some reason – I politely agreed to pay £20. At that moment I did not understand, why my ticket is not valid and why they are threatening me to be prosecuted. So I’ve asked how I can be punished when I have a valid ticket. I was told that it was because of my travel history. I asked again, why I’m being detained now for my travel history, and how can they prove anything based on it (as it doesn’t show who was travelling or what route has been used..). At this point, the lady inspector told me: “You’ve just lost your chance to use the option no.1 and now you will be reported and prosecuted. You can keep acting”… While the man inspector was very polite and tried to make this all as less problematic as possible, but the lady inspector looked very pissed off by me (for some reason), took my questions personally like a challenge and didn’t want to hear anything about paying the fine (I told them that I can do that there). Anyway, so then the man inspector explained me that I was travelling by using the route through Central London (I have to change my train in London Bridge station), but my travel card covered only zones 3-5 and I needed it for zones 1-5. The funny thing is that I did not know this.. I thought that my travel card only has to cover zones I'm using it in. But he explained me that I have to exit and enter the station using my Oyster card if I need to change the train... My travel history shows that I was travelling from the station in zone 3 to the station in zone 5 with the travel card for zones 3-5, but inspectors claimed that I was changing a train in London Bridge station and that’s why my travel card is not valid..?? After talking with them and reading this forum – now I understand.. But still, how can someone who newly came to this country know all the rules of using public transport.. I did not want to evade anything or save money, I was pretty sure that my travel card covers my journey, just because I’ve been asked to provide my ticket like for 5 times before and inspectors did not have any problems with it (only one time I got a fine of £20, probably the same reason, but I did not understand it at that moment and the inspector did not explain it normally). So, let me get back to my original story.. So these 2 inspectors detained me for 30min. or so, just because they were re-writing my travel history on their report. At the time I still had some questions to ask, because I thought that it is a very serious case (as they were threatening me with the prosecution) and wanted to know everything. So again, I asked about evidence, how can they prove it, what the process is waiting for me. And the lady inspector became super rude, she called it “pathetic” that I was asking all those questions and reminded me that I’m again trying to be “the smartest around here” and she is not talking to me any more. At this point I decided that they are rude with me with no reason and I didn’t deserve it, so I will not cooperate with them filling the report. So they did a questioning about my travel history and I told that “I’m not telling this” or “I don’t remember”. It was all written down and I signed it. The last but not least, they gave me to sign the report/ticket and the reason they’ve put on it was “Travelling without a valid ticket”. In my opinion it was not right as I had a valid ticket (I was charged from my Oyster card when I left the station after all this) at the time they checked me and I did not agree to sign on that. Hope I did not make a mistake.
To be honest, I was shocked by the attitude of this lady inspector, I’ve never expected to be treated like a criminal for a simple imbroglio, it doesn’t matter I was right or wrong. She was very rude and took it personally, she also declined to answer to my questions and was not helpful for me to understand the situation even it was quite clear that my English is not very good and I struggle to understand and even speak in this stressful situation. I still can’t get this out of my head and it is killing me.
1. What should I do next? Should I contact a solicitor for a legal help?
2. Do they have an authority to detain me when I have a valid ticket, just because they think that my travel history looks sketchy to them? Is it legal?
3. Is it possible that I can be prosecuted? Even if I paid for my travel card, just I’ve chosen the wrong one, NOT ON PURPOSE.
Thanks!
First of all, I want to thank everyone who is here to help, I really appreciate your time.
I want to start from mentioning that my English is not perfect as I started to learn it only couple of years ago. So I’m sorry in forward for any misunderstandings.
The reason I’m here is that I’ve been stopped by a ticket inspector during my trip to Central London. The (lady) inspector asked me to show her my ticket. I did it. She checked the ticket and kept walking down the train. I understood that it’s all OK, because I had an Oyster Card with enough credits to cover my journey and the Travel Card for zones 3-5. A minute or less later she came back with another (man) inspector and the lady told me that I don’t have a valid ticket with me and I have only two options:
1. Pay the fine of £20; or
2. To be reported, prosecuted and pay the way bigger fine.
I was shocked, but after I heard that I might be prosecuted for some reason – I politely agreed to pay £20. At that moment I did not understand, why my ticket is not valid and why they are threatening me to be prosecuted. So I’ve asked how I can be punished when I have a valid ticket. I was told that it was because of my travel history. I asked again, why I’m being detained now for my travel history, and how can they prove anything based on it (as it doesn’t show who was travelling or what route has been used..). At this point, the lady inspector told me: “You’ve just lost your chance to use the option no.1 and now you will be reported and prosecuted. You can keep acting”… While the man inspector was very polite and tried to make this all as less problematic as possible, but the lady inspector looked very pissed off by me (for some reason), took my questions personally like a challenge and didn’t want to hear anything about paying the fine (I told them that I can do that there). Anyway, so then the man inspector explained me that I was travelling by using the route through Central London (I have to change my train in London Bridge station), but my travel card covered only zones 3-5 and I needed it for zones 1-5. The funny thing is that I did not know this.. I thought that my travel card only has to cover zones I'm using it in. But he explained me that I have to exit and enter the station using my Oyster card if I need to change the train... My travel history shows that I was travelling from the station in zone 3 to the station in zone 5 with the travel card for zones 3-5, but inspectors claimed that I was changing a train in London Bridge station and that’s why my travel card is not valid..?? After talking with them and reading this forum – now I understand.. But still, how can someone who newly came to this country know all the rules of using public transport.. I did not want to evade anything or save money, I was pretty sure that my travel card covers my journey, just because I’ve been asked to provide my ticket like for 5 times before and inspectors did not have any problems with it (only one time I got a fine of £20, probably the same reason, but I did not understand it at that moment and the inspector did not explain it normally). So, let me get back to my original story.. So these 2 inspectors detained me for 30min. or so, just because they were re-writing my travel history on their report. At the time I still had some questions to ask, because I thought that it is a very serious case (as they were threatening me with the prosecution) and wanted to know everything. So again, I asked about evidence, how can they prove it, what the process is waiting for me. And the lady inspector became super rude, she called it “pathetic” that I was asking all those questions and reminded me that I’m again trying to be “the smartest around here” and she is not talking to me any more. At this point I decided that they are rude with me with no reason and I didn’t deserve it, so I will not cooperate with them filling the report. So they did a questioning about my travel history and I told that “I’m not telling this” or “I don’t remember”. It was all written down and I signed it. The last but not least, they gave me to sign the report/ticket and the reason they’ve put on it was “Travelling without a valid ticket”. In my opinion it was not right as I had a valid ticket (I was charged from my Oyster card when I left the station after all this) at the time they checked me and I did not agree to sign on that. Hope I did not make a mistake.
To be honest, I was shocked by the attitude of this lady inspector, I’ve never expected to be treated like a criminal for a simple imbroglio, it doesn’t matter I was right or wrong. She was very rude and took it personally, she also declined to answer to my questions and was not helpful for me to understand the situation even it was quite clear that my English is not very good and I struggle to understand and even speak in this stressful situation. I still can’t get this out of my head and it is killing me.
1. What should I do next? Should I contact a solicitor for a legal help?
2. Do they have an authority to detain me when I have a valid ticket, just because they think that my travel history looks sketchy to them? Is it legal?
3. Is it possible that I can be prosecuted? Even if I paid for my travel card, just I’ve chosen the wrong one, NOT ON PURPOSE.
Thanks!