I foolishly decided not to buy and ticket as by the time i had reached the station i realised i had no money with me and it was a 15 minute walk back to my house.
As you were questioned under caution it is likely you will be reported under the
Regulations of Railways Act 1889, Section 5 (3) (a): -
(3)If any person
(a)Travels or attempts to travel on a railway without having previously paid his fare, and with intent to avoid payment thereof; or
(b)Having paid his fare for a certain distance, knowingly and wilfully proceeds by train beyond that distance without previously paying the additional fare for the additional distance, and with intent to avoid payment thereof; or
(c)Having failed to pay his fare, gives in reply to a request by an officer of a railway company a false name or address,
he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [[level 2 on the standard scale] or [level 3 on the standard scale]], or, in the case of a second or subsequent offence, either to a fine not exceeding [level 2 on the standard scale] or [level 3 on the standard scale]], or in the discretion of the court to imprisonment for a term not exceeding [three months].
I was caught by an inspector trying to go through the barriers on someones elses ticket at Chelmsford
This is in contravention of the
Railway Byelaws (ammended 2006), specifically Section 9 - Stations and Premises: -
(2) Where the entrance to or exit from any platform or station is via a manned or an automatic ticket barrier no person shall enter or leave the station, except with permission from an authorised person, without passing through the barrier in the correct manner.
Then he found a child ticket on me from Chelsmford to Ingatestone from a previous date when i had told him my journey starts at Harold Wood, i said i was travelling to Ingatestone on the day but he didnt believe me.
Is it any wonder when you've just been caught trying to "tail-gate" through the barriers, and have no ticket and no money?
If you'd gone up to someone at the barriers and said you had no ticket, you might have been issued a nil-paid Penalty Fare, or if you were lucky an Unpaid Fare Notice. By your actions you were clearly intending to evade paying the fare for your journey. That is what the TOC has to prove in the Magistrates Court - intent. Attempting to "tailgate" was clear intention in the eyes of the Inspector.
Courts in area South West Trains operates in are hitting convicted Fare Evaders with fines of between £150 and £300 on a regular basis. On top of that they get costs of between £100 and £150 (as the fine goes to the Courts), plus a victim surcharge and finally the originally fare avoided still has to be paid! To settle out of Court, if the TOC were to do that, I doubt they'd settle for anything less than all that.
As to the conviction, if you are convicted, then as has been said that stays with you for life. Nobody has mentioned one of the other consequences of this - travel. If you are convicted forget trying to make a trip to the USA as you have to declare that conviction on your entry forms, and I have been told of several examples where someone has had to cancel a trip to the USA because they were convicted of fare evasion.
The Railway Companies take a bit of a softly, softly approach to publicising the impact of being convicted for fare evasion. Unfortunately too many people only realise when they get to Court. My opinion is that if the consequences were very clearly spelled out on stations, more people would be discouraged from doing it.
hock:
