Intent for prosecution, Child ticket Waterloo, 7 days to respond

[hobgoblin]

Good morning everyone,

I am currently required to reply to the email attached below Regarding the use of a child ticket at waterloo. I never realised the seriousness of using one as i had been caught in the past by an inspector and they have just laughed it off. Regardless, I have no intention of doing this anymore and realise the wrongdoings.

I am currently enrolled in medical school and as a result would prefer to not jeapordise my career with a silly prosecution and thus I am looking to settle out of Court.

I have used a child ticket multiple times in the past through the trainline app, but only been processed this one time (7th of Feb).

I have just now been given 7 days to reply to the following email, which asks for any potential mitigating factors that may influence our investigation. What would be the best way to respond to this email, in a way that is polite, regretfull and not self-incriminating.

All the best and thank you for your advice.

Here is the email:


On the 7th February 2025, a person giving the above name and address was questioned by a member of rail staff about an incident that occurred whilst on First MTR South Western Trains Limited property. Subsequently the matter has been passed for investigation.

On the day in question, the above named person was stopped having shown a child rate ticket.

All the evidence available is being considered. If you consider that there are further mitigating factors that may influence our investigation, I kindly request that you respond by 8th May 2025 (7 days from the date of this email)

Please ensure that ALL details below are completed and returned to ensure our records are correct.

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PAYMENT

First Name(s)
Surname
Date of Birth
Contact number(s)
Email
Address
Postcode

Yours sincerely





Kind Regards

 

[notmyrealname]

Hi, welcome to the forum.

Do you have a draft reply that you can show us at all? It's easier if you start things off and then people can ask more questions or help you to refine the reply.

You need to be honest with them and use your own words, no AI.

 

[Titfield]

From the advice which expert forum member @Hadders gives in cases such as this, adapted for your circumstances.

Travelling without a valid ticket is a criminal offence and the Train Operating Company are entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to. Generally speaking most Train Operating Companies are normally reasonable to deal with and will normally offer an out of court settlement in cases like this as long as you co-operate with them, and haven't come to their attention before.

I suggest a short, concise reply that mentions:

- 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 are offered an out of court settlement expect to have to pay the outstanding fares at the full Anytime rate, with no credit given for the invalid tickets you purchased in addition to an admin fee, typically £150. The train operating company will search your online ticket purchasing history to see if you have done this before and if this indicates you have done this before they will factor in the cost of these journeys into the settlement fee.

Paying a settlement might feel like paying a fine but technically it isn't. Only a court can impose a fine as a punishment upon conviction so you don't want to pay a fine, you want to pay a settlement!

Please post a redacted copy of the letter from the TOC in this thread, along with your draft reply, and forum members will proof read it for you.

Do not use AI to write the letter as such letters invariably sound insincere. You do not have to give or explain the reasons for purchasing a child fare as it is understood to be saving money for one reason or another.

 

[WesternLancer]

Good morning everyone,

I am currently required to reply to the email attached below Regarding the use of a child ticket at waterloo. I never realised the seriousness of using one as i had been caught in the past by an inspector and they have just laughed it off. Regardless, I have no intention of doing this anymore and realise the wrongdoings.

I am currently enrolled in medical school and as a result would prefer to not jeapordise my career with a silly prosecution and thus I am looking to settle out of Court.

I have used a child ticket multiple times in the past through the trainline app, but only been processed this one time (7th of Feb).

I have just now been given 7 days to reply to the following email, which asks for any potential mitigating factors that may influence our investigation. What would be the best way to respond to this email, in a way that is polite, regretfull and not self-incriminating.

All the best and thank you for your advice.

Here is the email:


On the 7th February 2025, a person giving the above name and address was questioned by a member of rail staff about an incident that occurred whilst on First MTR South Western Trains Limited property. Subsequently the matter has been passed for investigation.

On the day in question, the above named person was stopped having shown a child rate ticket.

All the evidence available is being considered. If you consider that there are further mitigating factors that may influence our investigation, I kindly request that you respond by 8th May 2025 (7 days from the date of this email)

Please ensure that ALL details below are completed and returned to ensure our records are correct.

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PAYMENT

First Name(s)
Surname
Date of Birth
Contact number(s)
Email
Address
Postcode

Yours sincerely





Kind Regards

Hi - you will get good advice here on what to do.

But I would say, given that you are studying medicine which is a hard degree to get on to and hopefully allows you access to a rewarding and potentially well remunerated career, you need to take this extremely seriously. If you can't resolve this yourself in a straight forward way, being completely honest with the railway about this (and potentially past evasion too) you probably need to give serious thought to involving a solicitor.

In England what you have been doing is committing a criminal offence

You need to 100% stop doing this sort of thing, or any other actions you take for that matter that could bring into question your honesty and integrity.

As things progress you may need to get advice on this either from your student union if they provide it, or if you are for example a student BMA member, from them as the professional body, as you may need to declare this to your University / Medical school.

You need to be aware they can and will audit your trainline account to identify all past instances of this, so you should prepare yourself by making your own private records of the number of occasions you have bought child tickets since you turned 16 years of age.

Please do not let petty ticket evasion involving the criminal use of child tickets you are not entitled to use jeopardise your future in a profession I am certain you will have worked incredibly hard to get in to.

 

[hobgoblin]

Thank you for your responses. I deeply regret my decisions and have no excuses aside from my poor judgements. I do not wish for this to have consequences on my career as I have dreamed of practicing medicine since as far as I can remember.

My biggest concern is the beaurocracy. I dont know exactly what I have to report or what I have to admit/omit.

Please find the draft of my email. I do not mention any other instances of child ticket usage, but they do exist. I also do not mention my studentship status.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to sincerely apologise for travelling with a child ticket from Guildford to Waterloo on 7 February.

I fully acknowledge the seriousness of my actions and deeply regret my lapse in judgment. I accept that there were no mitigating circumstances to justify my behaviour, and I take full responsibility.

I respectfully request that you consider allowing me to resolve this matter without court proceedings. I am willing to pay any outstanding fares and associated costs, and I will ensure that I always hold a valid ticket for future travel.

Once again, I offer my sincere apologies for this incident and am committed to cooperating fully to reach an amicable resolution.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you for your responses. I deeply regret my decisions and have no excuses aside from my poor judgements. I do not wish for this to have consequences on my career as I have dreamed of practicing medicine since as far as I can remember.

My biggest concern is the beaurocracy. I dont know exactly what I have to report or what I have to admit/omit.

Please find the draft of my email. I do not mention any other instances of child ticket usage, but they do exist. I also do not mention my studentship status.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to sincerely apologise for travelling with a child ticket from Guildford to Waterloo on 7 February.

I fully acknowledge the seriousness of my actions and deeply regret my lapse in judgment. I accept that there were no mitigating circumstances to justify my behaviour, and I take full responsibility.

I respectfully request that you consider allowing me to resolve this matter without court proceedings. I am willing to pay any outstanding fares and associated costs, and I will ensure that I always hold a valid ticket for future travel.

Once again, I offer my sincere apologies for this incident and am committed to cooperating fully to reach an amicable resolution.

I'd see what others think and whilst the general advice is not to incriminate yourself by talking about other instances, given how easily they will find those (SWR seem thorough on such checks and there is a clear digital fingerprint) and what is at stake for you - it may be worth considering mentioning that this was not the first time you have 'made this serious error of judgment' and that you would like to put this right.

I agree it is wise not to mention your status as a student - they would surely think you were intelligent enough to have known better.

I would also pro actively do something to reduce your fares that you can tell them you have done as a way of showing you have learned a lesson and changed your ways - eg buy a railcard eg 16-25 Railcard (and / or a season ticket if it is daily travel) - tell them you have done this and enclose a copy of said Railcard - consider the cost of the Railcard as an 'investment' in not being prosecuted as well as a way to reduce travel costs.

 

[hobgoblin]

Thank you for your response. I think that is a good idea. I will get the railcard today.
I have still been travelling many times since the incident, though every time I have used the correct adult ticket. Would this be worth mentioning too?

Once again, you’ve really helped ease my concerns As whilst it is still a potentially very serious investigation for me, it helps knowing I am not alone.

Thank you

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you for your response. I think that is a good idea. I will get the railcard today.
I have still been travelling many times since the incident, though every time I have used the correct adult ticket. Would this be worth mentioning too?

Maybe but in some way it's the least they might expect. You should only mention it briefly as opposed to trying to make a ting of it
eg you could say, assuming you are 100% confident it is correct

'since I was stopped I have always ensured I have had bought the correct ticket, and I have now also bought a Railcard to legitimately reduce the cost of my travel (copy enclosed)'

Once again, you’ve really helped ease my concerns As whilst it is still a potentially very serious investigation for me, it helps knowing I am not alone.

Thank you

You should wait 24 hours etc to let experts on here review your thread and comment - if you are not hard up against the deadline to reply

I think a key issue is as to whether you should or should not, at this stage, indicate that you want them to consider other evasion as part of your demonstration of willingness to co-operate. Others here will have useful views on that for you to consider.

also
If you are replying by post you should send it 1st class tracked postage from a post office so you can be certain they have received it - it's vital they get your reply or it will escalate automatically to prosecution

 

[enyoueffsea]

I’m assuming you are over 18 based on the fact you are studying medicine?

Secondly, as you have purchased these tickets through Trainline expect them to check your history and see multiple child tickets. You may wish to calculate how much this will cost you by multiplying the adult any time single ticket cost by the amount of times you have done this (x2 for a return). Might be wise to set aside that amount plus a £150-£200 admin fee ready to pay any settlement offered.

The fact you have now started purchasing adult tickets is great, but unfortunately this will suggest even more clearly to the TOC that all of the previous child tickets purchased were fare evasion.

To be clear though, I would not mention any previous incidents in any responses you send. Engage with them as you have been advised above and await their response.