Prosecuted for misuse of freedom pass

[eggtoast]

Hey guys, I got caught using my partners freedom pass a few months ago, and sent a letter confirming that I would plead guilty. I just got a letter today stating that I have 2 options. 1: I must attend court and admit my guilt or 2: I plead not guilty and they delay the court date.

Some background info: I was caught using it on the bus by a TFL plain clothed officer, which was incredibly stupid and I have no excuse for this as I know as the bus fare is only 1.75. I had been unemployed since graduating and my partner suggested I take his pass to commute as he had hardly used it. When I was at his I used it occasionally to commute mainly to places and attend interviews within London as I didn't have an income at the time and he wanted to help out. I didn't think it would be that severe however I fully understand the implications. When I was caught using it I panicked as I'm a very anxious person, and started to walk off as I was on my way to return the pass to him anyway and didn't want them to take it (he lives 2 minutes away from the bus stop) however the officer stated that it would cause my partner to get in trouble and if I was caught attempting to leave the bus I would be arrested. Even more panicked I stopped and handed over the pass and complied in giving my details, although I apologised and was visibly very nervous he was very aggressive (basically took me off the bus and was shouting in the street whilst I was being compliant and on the verge of tears) stated no matter my circumstances I'm going to be in a lot of trouble and will be fined and prosecuted.

I have a total of 22 documented uses in the letter with just over £100 of fines, and £375 in court fees. Since then I have managed to land a job and will be starting in the next week with a 3 month probation period. During this time I have a court date set and have to respond pleading my guilt again or not to these further offences (not just what was in the first letter). I haven't disclosed this as it would be very frowned upon if they found out I did this and had to attend court.

Is there a possibility to plead guilty, pay the fines and not attend court?
If it is compulsory to attend, how long are the proceedings usually and what happens during that time?

 

[Elecman]

They need you to attend court to accept the other offences to be taken into consideration in 1 go rather than than just prosecuting just the offence they actually caught you commuting. Please guilty and you benefit for the early plea discount on the court fine.

 

[30907]

I presume you answered any questions about convictions truthfully in your job application - if not, you risk dismissal.
I would strongly advise informing your new employer of this development - keeping quiet is much more likely to annoy them.

 

[Hadders]

It would be helpful if you could upload redacted copies of the paperwork you've been sent. From what you've told us you've been caught red handed and have been summonsed to appear in court. As noted above, if you plead guilty then the fine is normally discounted by a third. If you plead not guilty a trial has to be arranged, you would be found guilty at the trial and you wouldn't benefit from the discount on the fine for pleading guilty. In addition you would face higher court costs due to TfL staff having to appear in person.

As for telling your employer you need to check what your contract of employment says about criminal convictions.

 

[AlterEgo]

Hey guys, I got caught using my partners freedom pass a few months ago, and sent a letter confirming that I would plead guilty. I just got a letter today stating that I have 2 options. 1: I must attend court and admit my guilt or 2: I plead not guilty and they delay the court date.

Some background info: I was caught using it on the bus by a TFL plain clothed officer, which was incredibly stupid and I have no excuse for this as I know as the bus fare is only 1.75. I had been unemployed since graduating and my partner suggested I take his pass to commute as he had hardly used it. When I was at his I used it occasionally to commute mainly to places and attend interviews within London as I didn't have an income at the time and he wanted to help out. I didn't think it would be that severe however I fully understand the implications. When I was caught using it I panicked as I'm a very anxious person, and started to walk off as I was on my way to return the pass to him anyway and didn't want them to take it (he lives 2 minutes away from the bus stop) however the officer stated that it would cause my partner to get in trouble and if I was caught attempting to leave the bus I would be arrested. Even more panicked I stopped and handed over the pass and complied in giving my details, although I apologised and was visibly very nervous he was very aggressive (basically took me off the bus and was shouting in the street whilst I was being compliant and on the verge of tears) stated no matter my circumstances I'm going to be in a lot of trouble and will be fined and prosecuted.

I have a total of 22 documented uses in the letter with just over £100 of fines, and £375 in court fees. Since then I have managed to land a job and will be starting in the next week with a 3 month probation period. During this time I have a court date set and have to respond pleading my guilt again or not to these further offences (not just what was in the first letter). I haven't disclosed this as it would be very frowned upon if they found out I did this and had to attend court.

Is there a possibility to plead guilty, pay the fines and not attend court?

It sounds like you have been sent a postal requisition. You will need to attend court to confirm the other offending and this is mandatory. You must attend.

If you post the letter you’ve been sent we can advise further, but if the letter is telling you must attend court, then you must attend.

 

[eggtoast]

Thanks for the replies and clarity as I had been reading a lot of threads on similar circumstances of repeated misuse and saw some people were sent SJPs instead of court summonings. But I've been sent an summoning so I'm aware I must attend.

 

[pedr]

The reason for that is that the criminal procedure rules do not enable additional offences to be taken into account using the Single Justice Procedure. It isn't an indicator of seriousness, as such, but a necessary part of the prosecutor inviting you to accept responsibility for the additional offences without risk of separate prosecution. The trade-off is that even if the additional offences are taken into account when setting the level of the fine, any increase will be less than the theoretically-possible separate prosecutions and fines for each one.

Where the SJP is used, the prosecuting train company chooses to ignore any additional offences it has detected and simply prosecutes for the one it can prove (and other train companies often have less useful evidence: a pattern of use of a concessionary card is better evidence of misuse than the records of e-tickets which is what other train companies are likely to have).