TFL Offences

[Chestnut41]

Hi,
I tried to read advice on here but still have questions. Your help is much appreciated.

If someone was to be stopped on TFL and unable to prove their identify in regards to their photo card, then received a letter along lines of 'reported for an offence, facts are being investigated, return the information requested on the reverse of the letter in 10days' Reverse has 1 Deny 2 Accept 3 photocopy of your pass

What stage of the investigation/of the case is this at? Would it be appropriate for one to respond asking details of what the offence is before going into further details?

If someone was to say, yes I accept I am guilty, what are the next steps? Does one get taken to court to apply a prosecution ? Does one get a chance to explain things, if yes, what stage is this done at?

The other Q is, are these stops usually random, or does one get targeted and stopped?

 

[Wethebest838]

I believe that is the starting stage where it has not started legal proceedings.

Secondly, depends. I know they use a system for Oyster cards I forgot what it’s called that flags up behaviour like buying zone 2 and 1 travel card but you travel from zone 4. It shows up as a missing touch in and frequently when it happens, it’s highlighted to the investigators. You could be under investigation for some time and it was a targeted sting. I think freedom passes are there and then. They also change the light of the oyster readers so they can find discounted oysters if an RPI is present.

 

[AlterEgo]

Difficult to give a guaranteed accurate answer without knowing exactly what’s transpired here, especially as posters often use non-standard terminology. Could you let us know the following?

• We need to know all relevant facts in order to assist you, including, for example:
  • The stations where you started & finished your journey;
  • The stations where you changed trains (if applicable);
  • If you presented a ticket(s), the information stated under "Ticket type", "From", "To", "Route", and any other relevant details;
  • What happened in any encounter with railway staff;
  • The details of any paperwork with which you were issued.
• Be careful not to post anything incriminating or personally identifying
• We need to know what outcome(s) you would consider satisfactory

 

[Snow1964]

If the letter is basically a fact gathering version, then even if you think you are guilty (as you know you avoided paying, or deliberately short paid) then be very careful of pleading guilty if you don’t know what you are being accused of.

It is much safer to give a (short) narrative answer, saying something like I now understand my card did not touch in correctly and happy to pay anything owing. This is an example of an answer, don’t but incriminate yourself or cause further problems by ignoring the letter.

A lot will depend on if you have a history of fare evasion. However assume your recent history of journeys will be checked for unusual patterns