I am currently 18 turning 19 next week and in uni.
Back in Feb i was caught by a bus inspector on my way to uni using an invalid 16+ oyster card that was to expire in 2020, where as a 16+ oyster card by TFL would expire in 2019. The card was taken from me and the inspector said i would be summoned to court.
I got this oyster card from someone i had met in my unis induction week and i was oblivious to question if the card was legit. He told me if i paid him £20 on top of the application costs he could extend the oyster by one year. Yes, very stupid of me.
I had no knowledge that the card was invalid when i was caught.
A week or so later i received a letter from tfl that said something along the lines to explain the circumstances and plead guilty or not and may be taken further into court. I replied by email saying that i was at fault for not knowing the card was invalid and i would take full responsibility and pay any fine that they would give me.
No response until today where i received a court summon from TFL.
I'm fine paying the fine that they would give me, but i dont really want to have a criminal conviction.
This situation has gotten me really stressed and i really need advice on what to do. I really do not want a criminal conviction/record.
Back in Feb i was caught by a bus inspector on my way to uni using an invalid 16+ oyster card that was to expire in 2020, where as a 16+ oyster card by TFL would expire in 2019. The card was taken from me and the inspector said i would be summoned to court.
I got this oyster card from someone i had met in my unis induction week and i was oblivious to question if the card was legit. He told me if i paid him £20 on top of the application costs he could extend the oyster by one year. Yes, very stupid of me.
I had no knowledge that the card was invalid when i was caught.
A week or so later i received a letter from tfl that said something along the lines to explain the circumstances and plead guilty or not and may be taken further into court. I replied by email saying that i was at fault for not knowing the card was invalid and i would take full responsibility and pay any fine that they would give me.
No response until today where i received a court summon from TFL.
I'm fine paying the fine that they would give me, but i dont really want to have a criminal conviction.
This situation has gotten me really stressed and i really need advice on what to do. I really do not want a criminal conviction/record.