Hi all,
I havent got a penalty charge yet but I received this from the Prosecutions Unit @ London Eastern Railway at London Liverpool Street:
' Dear Sir,
On 12th May 2009 at London Liverpool Street Staion a person giving the above name and address was questioned by a member of rail staff about the payment of a rail fare.
Before I proceed further with the investigation of this matter, I would lilke to give you the opportunity of responding with your explanation concerning this incident. Please complete the bottom section of this letter and if you wish to make any comments about the incident, please do so on the revers of this letter.
Failure to respond to this letter may result in legal action being taken against you '
It also asks me to confirm my details as being the person on the letter, and asks for my NI number and occcupation!!!!
I did indeed speak to a Revenue Protection officer on that day, as result of not having my normal ticket...... i sometimes buy weekly railcards, and other times buy singles or returns dependant on whether I am going to be in london or not..... I work in sales and have a strange pattern which makes working out which tickets to buy and when a bit of a nightmare. The day previous I had been in Manchester and I normally buy my ticket when I get home for the following day, but as I returned late I didnt buy one and boarded the following mornign without a ticket.... whcih was a genuine mistake.
I can explain as much to them as I did on the station, and I thought that was enough at the time, but now having this letter sent to me has taken me aback a bit.
I have researched this a bit on the web and I am quite worried that I am now in the position of being taken to court..... is this likely? I've never been in trouble with the railway before and have been using the trains for 10 years so I feel they are being pretty harsh.
My question at this stage is that should I even be responding to this letter? Is this an admission of guilt?..... as it used to be with speeding fines (my brother was caught speeding many years ago about the same time as the law stated you couldnt incriminate yourself).
Should I send the letter back? And should I just repeat my original plight to them or are they going to take no notice?
Thanks in advance,