Interview with south western rail

[dd2022]

Hello. My brother has made a stupid stupid mistake where he’s been travelling around the south east on incomplete tickets. Eg buying cheap tickets to enter stations on either side, missing out the middle bits. He was caught by a gate guard and reported to SWR. He now has had a letter inviting him to interview but he says he’s been doing this for a while now and we are not really sure what to do and extremely anxious about the possibility of a criminal record. They probably already know he’s done it more than one time which we assume is why they skipped all steps and went straight to interview.

We are at our wits end as his job wouldn’t allow for a record and he is also a postgraduate student alongside.

Any suggestions or what do you think the outcome might be? He is currently trying to work out what he would have owed them (which we think may be in the thousands).

We have reached out to a solicitor but any advice would be welcome and he knows that this was so bad and it was really really stupid and he has no excuse. Thanks!

 

[gray1404]

How has your brother been purchasing the tickets? Is it possible that they might have looked at his ticket purchasing you history if he has purchased them online or using an app to gather a picture of what he has been doing.

 

[Wethebest838]

If he hasn’t been caught before then an out of court settlement would be possible I reckon in my opinion. The chances may be less but anything is possible.

How many journeys was it in total?

What stations was this happening at?

As @gray1404 said, was this via Trainline? As if so then they will be able to find out all the journeys made.

First thing first, the chance of prison are near to none. The only way would be if they charged under the Fraud act (fraud by false representation I think it’s called) but there’s been cases of £1000’s of people doing this and getting suspended sentence at most. I have yet to see one about fare evasion. Just to put your mind at ease a bit. Most likely they will charge under the RoRa act which follows with a criminal record which is ‘spent’ after a year. I doubt they will charge under byelaws but I’m not someone who specialises in law.

For the other users, is this common for SWR to ask to come to an interview after?

 

[gray1404]

It is not just trainline booking records that a train company can check, it can be with any retailer used to purchase tickets.

 

[AlterEgo]

Get a solicitor and say nothing until you do. Any other advice is superfluous. Ignore what people post here unless it’s “get him a solicitor”. This is a very serious matter.

The solicitor will be able to advise 1) if it’s in his best interests to attend the voluntary interview, and 2) give advice on whether he should give answers in that interview if he does attend.

Be sure to be frank and open with the solicitor; they will not be able to help you unless they know absolutely everything.

 

[realemil]

Following on from the above advice - I'd go as far to say to remove anything which you posted here which could be classed as 'evidence', unsure whether a TOC would use a forum post as evidence, but who knows. (Your location is the biggest giveaway, however).

 

[dd2022]

Following on from the above advice - I'd go as far to say to remove anything which you posted here which could be classed as 'evidence', unsure whether a TOC would use a forum post as evidence, but who knows. (Your location is the biggest giveaway, however).

Oh gosh…is one able to delete the original post?

 

[realemil]

Oh gosh…is one able to delete the original post?

You can edit the forum post (bottom left of the original post), just remove anything 'incriminating' as such.

https://www.railforums.co.uk/account/account-details - You can (and I'd recommend so personally but IANAL) change your location here.

Also, a tip when consulting a solicitor - ask about their track record regarding these sorts of cases / situations.

 

[dd2022]

You can edit the forum post (bottom left of the original post), just remove anything 'incriminating' as such.

https://www.railforums.co.uk/account/account-details - You can (and I'd recommend so personally but IANAL) change your location here.

Also, a tip when consulting a solicitor - ask about their track record regarding these sorts of cases / situations.

Thank you for the advice!

 

[Wethebest838]

Following on from the above advice - I'd go as far to say to remove anything which you posted here which could be classed as 'evidence', unsure whether a TOC would use a forum post as evidence, but who knows. (Your location is the biggest giveaway, however).

I always wondered if they use forums as evidence.

 

[gray1404]

You do not need to answer my question about how the tickets have been purchased. However just make sure your brother knows that he has been using online or app based facilities to purchase the tickets than the train company will be able to request the data. This applies even if he has purchased them from a different train company to who travelled with or was stopped by.

 

[AlterEgo]

I always wondered if they use forums as evidence.

Not as evidence, but they may work out which case is being discussed - for example from the user’s location or other details - and use the contents to decide where to investigate further in that particular case.

The OP should not post any specifics, they should contact a solicitor and ignore all other advice until they have a consultation with that solicitor.

 

[Hadders]

I agree with @AlterEgo and would not attend any interview without a solicitor, and should be careful about what is posted on here. There is no need to use a solicitor specialising in railway ticketing matters (who have very hard to come by a very expensive). A local solicitor speciaising in crimiinal defence work will be fine.

 

[Mawkie]

May I ask - what is the difference between being interviewed at a barrier (after being read your rights) and a voluntary interview at a different location?

 

[RPI]

May I ask - what is the difference between being interviewed at a barrier (after being read your rights) and a voluntary interview at a different location?

Both are voluntary, being invited for an interview would be more structured and most likely tape recorded.

 

[Mawkie]

Both are voluntary, being invited for an interview would be more structured and most likely tape recorded.

Thanks!

 

[Wolfie]

You can edit the forum post (bottom left of the original post), just remove anything 'incriminating' as such.

https://www.railforums.co.uk/account/account-details - You can (and I'd recommend so personally but IANAL) change your location here.

Also, a tip when consulting a solicitor - ask about their track record regarding these sorts of cases / situations.

I'm not sure that a post from an individual (other than a witness or investigator) who is not the accused (even if said individual has decent access to Information) purporting to state what the accused did could ever be evidence.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Apr 2022 ==

Not as evidence, but they may work out which case is being discussed - for example from the user’s location or other details - and use the contents to decide where to investigate further in that particular case.

The OP should not post any specifics, they should contact a solicitor and ignore all other advice until they have a consultation with that solicitor.

Now that is certainly possible and might even be likely.

 

[PCOEvs]

Both are voluntary, being invited for an interview would be more structured and most likely tape recorded.

At the gate would suggest they believed it was a one off honest mistake. Invited to an interview would suggest they have evidence of multiple invalid journeys, which they believe are deliberate and potentially could lead to a court appearance. Potentially an offer could be made for the person to make full payment of the money owed rather than the case being progressed further. I believe this is how TfL deal with cases and believe SWR would be similar.

 

[skyhigh]

At the gate would suggest they believed it was a one off honest mistake.

Not necessarily.