Letter from prosecutions unit

[Ferret]

The knee jerk advice to any prosecution thread is to write a nice letter to the Train Operating Company concerned. In this case, what the OP needs to do is accept they're going to court and seek advice from a solicitor with regards to mitigating the severity of the punishment.

Well, I've heard that even somebody who made their own Blue Peter season ticket managed to settle out of Court, so it can be done, but that's down to the TOC concerned. It may well be that if they have an overwhelming amount of evidence of fraud, they'll decide it should be dealt with in Court as you describe. I don't see that there's anything to lose by attempting to settle out of Court, but don't be entirely surprised if the offer is rebuffed.

 

[The Boat]

The TOC/Ticket Inspectors may have also dug into the oyster card history to see if you were tapping out at Liverpool st on a regular basis without tapping in anywhere which may suggest a serial offender rather than someone who has made a mistake and got caught out.

They will be looking at this and if there is evidence of tapping out at Liverpool st on a regular basis they could charge under the Frauds Act 2006

 

[tannedfrog]

But he might normally have had paper tickets up to the boundary? In itself there is nothing wrong with exiting using an Oyster travelcard

 

[bb21]

But he might normally have had paper tickets up to the boundary? In itself there is nothing wrong with exiting using an Oyster travelcard

There are two scenarios:

Firstly if the passenger has a ticket to the boundary and uses a season ticket / Travelcard season stored on the Oyster to exit at Liverpool Street then that is absolutely fine. The gateline will not deduct any money.

The alternative scenario is a ticket to the boundary and then uses Oyster PAYG. In this case given that the passenger has had no opportunity to "touch in" as it is a non-stop train from outside the boundary, they will see a maximum fare deducted. As they haven't "touched in", they are liable for a Penalty Fare at the least.

It is not difficult to tell the two scenarios apart.

 

[michael769]

However, the GA prosecutions people may be more reasonable than I.

I suspect they are also mindful of the costs involved in launching (what is) a private prosecution, while they should be awarded costs IME court cost awards rarely cover all the costs involved. Also any fine goes to the government whereas any out of court settlement goes to the ToC.

Another factor to consider is that we generally do not know what evidence the ToC actually has, it may be that (from their perspective) their case is not as strong as it may appear.

 

[Ferret]

Michael769 - the award of costs usually takes into account the unpaid fare as I understand it from my colleagues. But you are right in observing that out of Court settlements are usually of financial benefit to the Train Company.

As for the case not being as strong as it appears - in this case, there might be a huge Oyster travel history going against the OP for all we know. Indeed, the OP may even have been a the subject of a targetted sting (yes, TOCs do go looking for people who are observed over a period of time to be on the fiddle).

 

[swt_passenger]

The couple that spent a year travelling on short season tickets on the West Anglia side were eventually followed home...

http://www.allticketsplease.co.uk/?p=602

 

[455driver]

Never mind the costs, think of the publicity of "coming down hard" on the fare dodger!

How much is that worth?

 

[train2012]

Thank you all for your advice and any info that you provided me. I did write a short letter to the prosecutors. I think the grammar is ok, but still i would like to ask, if someone could check it for me. And of course advise me, if its ok to be send to them.

Could anyone give me a help with this one?

 

[142094]

Never mind the costs, think of the publicity of "coming down hard" on the fare dodger!

How much is that worth?

Probably find that it will only deter a small amount of people who chance it once every so often. The hardcore minority will not care. Saw someone yesterday get stopped and given a Penalty Fare, who had been stopped previously. Took the fine note, ripped it up and threw it on the floor and walked off. No doubt they'll be seeing him again soon.