Hi i am attaching my letter which i was asked to send and i have redacted some personal information and i was wondering will i need to hire a solicitor or is it likely i can reach an out of court settlement. all advice would be greatly appreciated.
Case reference x. My name is x and I had received a letter of a Notice of intention to prosecute (incidence was on the 28th of September 09:02am) which was dated as the 5th of November and I apologise for the late response as I have just seen the letter today as I had moved to a new house and I put my Family address as I didn’t want to miss this letter (Sunday 14thNovember). To give a bit of background about myself I am 23 years, I had recently graduated from my Masters and started my first job at x as a scientist this September.
Since starting my job in the month of September I had been going to Stevenage (into office) every few days and working from home (in London) others. On Tuesday the 28th of September I was running late to work and I had rushed to London St Pancras to get my train to Stevenage. I was attempting to buy the thameslink train ticket for 08:46am on trainline as I normally buy my tickets (x is the email address associated with my trainline account which I buy my tickets from) however while I was outside the barrier I was having issues with my apple pay and my Natwest as it was not letting me purchase the ticket from trainline even though I had sufficient funds in my bank account. I had tried to send money into my revolut bank account and buy a ticket however that was not working (I also recall that week I repeatedly had issues buying tickets but I do not know if that was an issue with trainline, my Applepay or bank account). In panic as I did not want to miss my train, I used my contactless revolut card to get through the barriers and get the train. In a hurry bought an advanced single and an anytime day return ticket which I believe was at 0851am however I did not realise this was a collection code and not the QR code (trainline transaction ID: x, railcard 16-25 ID:x). When the officer had come to me, I showed him my ticket however I was told it was not a valid ticket as it was a collection code. I had apologised to him and had told him what had happened and explained to him that I had not realised that I bought a click to collect ticket as I always get the QR code as its my default setting and I was unable to buy the 0846am train ticket as it was unavailable to buy as the time had passed to buy it and I was really panicking and I just bought my ticket and return ticket. I expressed to him I had no intention of dodging the fare or returning the ticket as I would collect my tickets as I needed my return ticket to come home. I expressed to the officer that this was an unintentional mistake and that I didn’t mean to get a collection code and that I was panicking while trying to buy the ticket.
I would like to sincerely apologise for my mistake and I genuinely have never had the intention of fare dodging I have never had any offence like this and I always buy my tickets and there is a record for every time I have on my trainline account. I understand now that I should’ve have been more cautious when buying my ticket, or I should have bought an anytime single earlier in the morning rather than last minute and I am completely at fault. I would appreciate the opportunity to learn from my mistake whilst not tarnishing my record and I understand that this may be a selfish request. I am aware of my duty of conduct and I would never abuse the systems in place. I would also like to express that I am also willing to immediately pay the outstanding fare, any administrative costs that have been incurred and an administrative penalty. I have never had a criminal record and I am extremely scared that this will impact my future and the ability to pursue further education and I would like to ask for your consideration to not persecute me. Thank you for taking the time to read my letter and again I would like to sincerely apologise and please do not hesitate to contact me.
I will not be in the country from December 15th to January 22nd as i am on holiday but please feel free to send me any correspondence by email thank you.
Thank you,
Case reference x. My name is x and I had received a letter of a Notice of intention to prosecute (incidence was on the 28th of September 09:02am) which was dated as the 5th of November and I apologise for the late response as I have just seen the letter today as I had moved to a new house and I put my Family address as I didn’t want to miss this letter (Sunday 14thNovember). To give a bit of background about myself I am 23 years, I had recently graduated from my Masters and started my first job at x as a scientist this September.
Since starting my job in the month of September I had been going to Stevenage (into office) every few days and working from home (in London) others. On Tuesday the 28th of September I was running late to work and I had rushed to London St Pancras to get my train to Stevenage. I was attempting to buy the thameslink train ticket for 08:46am on trainline as I normally buy my tickets (x is the email address associated with my trainline account which I buy my tickets from) however while I was outside the barrier I was having issues with my apple pay and my Natwest as it was not letting me purchase the ticket from trainline even though I had sufficient funds in my bank account. I had tried to send money into my revolut bank account and buy a ticket however that was not working (I also recall that week I repeatedly had issues buying tickets but I do not know if that was an issue with trainline, my Applepay or bank account). In panic as I did not want to miss my train, I used my contactless revolut card to get through the barriers and get the train. In a hurry bought an advanced single and an anytime day return ticket which I believe was at 0851am however I did not realise this was a collection code and not the QR code (trainline transaction ID: x, railcard 16-25 ID:x). When the officer had come to me, I showed him my ticket however I was told it was not a valid ticket as it was a collection code. I had apologised to him and had told him what had happened and explained to him that I had not realised that I bought a click to collect ticket as I always get the QR code as its my default setting and I was unable to buy the 0846am train ticket as it was unavailable to buy as the time had passed to buy it and I was really panicking and I just bought my ticket and return ticket. I expressed to him I had no intention of dodging the fare or returning the ticket as I would collect my tickets as I needed my return ticket to come home. I expressed to the officer that this was an unintentional mistake and that I didn’t mean to get a collection code and that I was panicking while trying to buy the ticket.
I would like to sincerely apologise for my mistake and I genuinely have never had the intention of fare dodging I have never had any offence like this and I always buy my tickets and there is a record for every time I have on my trainline account. I understand now that I should’ve have been more cautious when buying my ticket, or I should have bought an anytime single earlier in the morning rather than last minute and I am completely at fault. I would appreciate the opportunity to learn from my mistake whilst not tarnishing my record and I understand that this may be a selfish request. I am aware of my duty of conduct and I would never abuse the systems in place. I would also like to express that I am also willing to immediately pay the outstanding fare, any administrative costs that have been incurred and an administrative penalty. I have never had a criminal record and I am extremely scared that this will impact my future and the ability to pursue further education and I would like to ask for your consideration to not persecute me. Thank you for taking the time to read my letter and again I would like to sincerely apologise and please do not hesitate to contact me.
I will not be in the country from December 15th to January 22nd as i am on holiday but please feel free to send me any correspondence by email thank you.
Thank you,