WMR Seeking Prosecution - 250+ Offences

[JoshSutton92]

Hi,

Around a month ago, I was caught on a train back from Birmingham to Sutton Coldfield on a West Midlands Railway.

I used a 16-17 saver which I did not have, and put it from the closest stop from Birmingham New Street station.

I have been doing this for over three years, and it has now caught up to me.

I understand that I am an idiot, have defrauded the train company and acted immoraly. Frankly, I have no idea why I continued to do it. I was just on min wage and made a habit of doing it.

When I was caught, I paid the £50 fine, but I have now received a letter of intended prosecution.

I believe I took 246 return trips. Considering the return ticket cost £7, I believe I will have to pay £1722 + fees.

The main thing for me is not having a criminal record, I want to do everything possible to settle out of court.

Considering my fraud was pretty consistent and the railway provider, what do you think are the chances at an out of court settlement? I would be willing to pay in full as soon as possible.

Thanks,
Josh

 

[Brissle Girl]

Welcome to the forum!

Re how much will it cost, is it 246 trains or 492 trains (ie are you counting a return journey as 1 trip)? It's likely that the single fare for each trip (currently 4.40) will be used, so 8.80 for each day you did this.

This will certainly be at the upper end of the longevity of fare evasion, though even with the sum you might be looking at, it certainly isn't the largest where an out of court settlement has been offered. So there is hope...

Your best bet to get an offer is to be very cooperative, apologetic, and honest, which means admitting to all the prior offences if that is what they are asking you about (it would help if you upload a copy of the letter, suitably redacted of any personal information). You say you can pay in full, which is good, as they will expect any settlement offer to be paid quickly, typically within 14 days.

You're very welcome to post a draft response here, and we will take a look at it. Try to avoid the temptation to use AI to help you - they produce the most cringy over the top repetitive letters in language that "normal people" don't use, so it won't help persuade the investigator reviewing your case that you are sincere (not least because they must see those AI generated letters several times every day). Just try and write in plain English how sorry you are, and you certainly won't do it again.

 

[JoshSutton92]

Welcome to the forum!

Re how much will it cost, is it 246 trains or 492 trains (ie are you counting a return journey as 1 trip)? It's likely that the single fare for each trip (currently 4.40) will be used, so 8.80 for each day you did this.

This will certainly be at the upper end of the longevity of fare evasion, though even with the sum you might be looking at, it certainly isn't the largest where an out of court settlement has been offered. So there is hope...

Your best bet to get an offer is to be very cooperative, apologetic, and honest, which means admitting to all the prior offences if that is what they are asking you about (it would help if you upload a copy of the letter, suitably redacted of any personal information). You say you can pay in full, which is good, as they will expect any settlement offer to be paid quickly, typically within 14 days.

You're very welcome to post a draft response here, and we will take a look at it. Try to avoid the temptation to use AI to help you - they produce the most cringy over the top repetitive letters in language that "normal people" don't use, so it won't help persuade the investigator reviewing your case that you are sincere (not least because they must see those AI generated letters several times every day). Just try and write in plain English how sorry you are, and you certainly won't do it again.

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

I paid £7 for a return, 246 times. I have updated my original post for anyone else to look at.

Possible letter:

'Dear xyz

I apologise for defrauding West Midlands Railway.

I fully accept responsibility for my actions, I acted immorally and I sincerely regret my decisions. I have been on an apprenticeship which pays below national minimum wage, and I regretfully took it upon myself to apply a discounted railway pass that didn't belong to me, and put it at a closer stop to make it cheaper.

Since receiving the first penalty notice that was given to me on the train, I paid the fine in full and have been paying the full fair amount every-time I have taken the train.

If possible, I would like to settle this out of court and avoid any criminal prosecution as this could potentially have a devastating affect on my future prospects.

I am more than willing pay back the full amount owed in a single transaction, plus any additional administration fees.

Please let me know if I can be of any assistance in locating and sending tickets that have not been paid in the correct amount, I am more than willing to help.

I will never think about doing this again.

Kindest regards,
Josh'

I'll try and upload the letter they sent me when I'm home later.

 

[ikcdab]

It almost goes without saying, but I will say it anyway. One way you can demonstrate your contrition is to make sure that you always now have the proper ticket for your journey. I hope you have been doing this since you were caught.
There are various ways you can legally reduce the fare and if you post on this forum you will get good advice on that.

 

[Bletchleyite]

To the OP, you may prefer to change your username to one that doesn't identify you as TOCs do read here. To do so report your own post, the admins will pick up on it.

 

[Brissle Girl]

Hi,



I paid £7 for a return, 246 times.

Do you mean you paid £7, or that is what you should have paid for your journey? I interpreted it as your journey was from Sutton Coldfield to Birmingham, but you short fared from a closer station (and also used a railcard discount to which you were not entitled).

If that's what you should have paid then you should probably use 8.80 as the return fare cost you're likely to be charged, as most companies use Anytime Single fares for each journey undertaken.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

To be totally honest, if a case like this doesn't end up in court you have to wonder how serious the level of fare evasion has to be to get prosecuted.

We have seen cases of large scale fare evasion result in out of court settlements, these are often very expensive and you will need to be in a position to pay the settlement in full within a few days of it being offered. The best way of obtaining a settlement is to co-operate with the train company.

Your letter generally mentions the right points, although it could probably be a bit more sincere in its tone.

If you are offered a settlement it is likely to cost the full Anytime fares with no credit given for the tickets you did purchase. You will also have to pay their admin fees which I would expect to be far more than what they normally charge as you case is not straightforward meaning the train company will have used more resource to investigate it.

 

[notmyrealname]

A small point on the letter to WMR.

The normal wording at the end if you're writing something like 'Dear Mr Smith' is Yours sincerely.

 

[island]

To be totally honest, if a case like this doesn't end up in court you have to wonder how serious the level of fare evasion has to be to get prosecuted.

Indeed. Nevertheless, the train company gets a bigger share of the pie on an out of court settlement than after a court conviction, and as long as that remains the case, it will be in train companies’ interest to prefer the former.

 

[SteveM70]

To the OP, you may prefer to change your username to one that doesn't identify you as TOCs do read here. To do so report your own post, the admins will pick up on it.

Yes, but the detail he’s provided on the offences he’s committed aren’t going to make him difficult to spot!

 

[fandroid]

Could we please see a copy of the letter from WMR? It's of interest to the forum that the OP has told us that they paid "a £50 fine". That suggests that they paid a Penalty Fare. So are they being threatened with prosecution for that one offence? Is it conceivable that WMR research has identified the possible long-term fare dodging and that they'll use the Penalty Fare incident as evidence of fraudulent behaviour to back up an accusation of short-faring over the previous months

 

[Gloster]

Could we please see a copy of the letter from WMR? It's of interest to the forum that the OP has told us that they paid "a £50 fine". That suggests that they paid a Penalty Fare. So are they being threatened with prosecution for that one offence? Is it conceivable that WMR research has identified the possible long-term fare dodging and that they'll use the Penalty Fare incident as evidence of fraudulent behaviour to back up an accusation of short-faring over the previous months

If you do post the original letter that you were sent, please make sure that you obscure your name, address and any other identifying details, such as reference numbers, when doing so.