Yes, I am very disappointed with the solicitor. He told me he knew a man that worked at the prosecutions department but after I transferred the money to the solicitors' account I received the news that the man was not working there anymore! I am talking about a very famous solicitor that is often seen in the newspapers and on the BBC news. he only deals with huge cases but because I am a friend of a friend he decided to take my case on as a special favour and for a special fee... I cant stand to look at his face on tv anymore I would never treat my clients the way he treated me, that's something good that I learnt from this experience at least now I know how clients feel when they are in trouble! Re caution the point you raise is correct but it is always up to the judge to decide. In my case the inspector was forcing me to admit my guilt otherwise he would call the police, in the statement he wrote Q & A that were more like a work of fiction, I never admitted guilt but he wrote that I said: yes I had the INTENTION to travel without paying --> I never said such a thing especially with a legal background. and many other things I cannot get into detail in here. What really upsets me is that if I had dealt with the case by myself I know I could settle the matter out of court, all the ideas I had were rejected by this so-called solicitor that was unwilling to listen to me because he has more than 20 yrs experience while I am just a novice in this area. I went to another solicitor which only has 5 yrs experience after spending so much money with the 1st solicitor, I explained all my ideas which he agreed with but when I showed him the work of the other idiot, i.e.letters sent, etc he told me straightaway that there was no point in writing to the prosecutions department once more as the other solicitor wrote to them stating that I had commited the offence other times! What type of idiot would do that?!?!? I've got all his lies documented, emails, sms, letters. and you might be thinking why don't you complain to the SRA? well, because he is a powerful man!

Hi All, I will finally be able to post the outcome of my situation. Please note that if you were caught in a bus it is better to check the following website: lostlondonlawstudent Re my situation, all started in August 2009. In October received TFL’s 1st letter requesting my version of events. After researching online and with the prospects of a criminal record I panicked and decided to instruct a solicitor. à In my case this proved to be a waste of time and money. The solicitor replied to TFL’s 1st letter. A letter of apology was sent to them plus reference letters, a request to settle the matter out of court and an offer to pay TFL’s costs for opening the case. NOTE: TFL’s 1st letter only gives 10 days to reply to the letter when by Statute it should give 14 days. Later in October TFL replied to the solicitor stating that all documents sent were being considered, bla bla bla. 1 week before the 6 months elapsed I received the summons. The solicitor tried to negotiate with TFL once more but they refused to settle out of court. I also sent them an email and called them several times requesting them to reconsider their decision to prosecute, I was told that the prosecution would continue and was also told not to worry as the conviction would not show up neither on the PNC nor on the Basic or Standard CRB checks but that it would appear on the Enhanced CRB check... The court hearing was in March 2010, days before I wrote a letter to the judge explaining my situation and pleading guilty. Don’t know if the letter made any difference but in April I received the notice of fine: £249 including compensation and costs. I was contacted by many people on this forum who managed to settle out of court and paid between £400 and £800! My mother received her freedom pass; I thought it was better to apply after the fine had been paid and the case closed. Re the CRB checks I am uncertain of where I stand as I haven’t applied for one. Please note that before deciding to plead guilty I was given the following options: 1 – Plead not guilty by post and prepare for the hearing. TFL would have to prove that I travelled without paying the fare and also prove beyond reasonable doubt that I had the intent to avoid payment thereof. According to the solicitor TFL would only be able to prove that I travelled without paying the fare as it appears that by giving the correct details, i.e. name, address and DOB the intention to avoid payment thereof does not exist. This is also explained at the Crown Prosecution Service’s website. The statement provided by the inspector that interviewed me was riddled with lies and inaccuracies and I was only cautioned at the end of the interview which is against the law and as such the solicitor suggested that we could request the court for the statement not to be used. NOTE: When you receive the witness statement read it very carefully and check for any inaccuracies. On the date of the hearing if I had pleaded not guilty, the inspector would be present and TFL’s prosecutors were going to interview me. I could take witnesses with me and I/my solicitor could also cross-examine the inspector/witnesses present. I decided not to follow this route because the solicitor was going to charge me £4000 on top of the £2000 already charged for the letters/emails/phone calls and it was uncertain if I could win the case as the sentencing guidelines at the magistrates’ court are fixed anyway and the fine and punishment would be worse if found guilty after pleading otherwise. 2 – Ignore any correspondence from London Underground, ignore the Summons and wait to receive the notice of fine to take action. After failing to attend the court hearing, the case would be dealt with in my absence. After receiving the notice of fine I would claim that I had no knowledge of the case and make a Statutory Declaration to that effect. TFL would then need to start the whole process again. NOTE: Apparently, this is what repeat offenders do...I am not in favour of this option and you are free to do as you wish bearing in mind the possible consequences of this course of action. I pleaded guilty by post because at the end of the day I was guilty of using somebody else’s pass and I can honestly say that I was not aware that this was a criminal offence, believe it or not! A simple warning of fine to this effect would prevent me from using the pass again. As I said in previous posts being punished and fined for my actions was never a problem but I continue to believe that a criminal record for 1st time offenders is too much. 2 weeks ago a man jumped through the barriers, he is a well-known offender in the area, and nobody EVER stops him. I’ve witnessed his behaviour before and he always gives different details and shouts that he will only pay the fare when the service provided by TFL is better (we pay an incredibly expensive fare, have to travel like a can of sardines, have to endure nutters and plus the constant strikes and severe delays...) and as such TFL has to make money out of the people that commit the offence only once out of desperation, etc... but when caught provide the correct details. Before I finish and post this final note I would like to thank the support (I know these are not the Oscars! ) provided by Scaredsheep, Old-CodJa and the many people that contacted me throughout this difficult time. Thank you to all the people that sought my advice and bothered to get back to me with the outcome of their cases and thanking me for the free advice provided. It was a pleasure to help you. To all of you who were naughty naughty and are just starting the process with TFL I know how you must be feeling but believe me when I say that things are not as bad as they seem and that all cases are different, just because I couldn’t reach an out of court settlement it does not mean that you can’t and most important of all IF YOU ARE INNOCENT DON’T GIVE UP AND FIGHT!! Best wishes, Rosa

Hi there, Agree with Old-CodJA. Wait for the letter to arrive, I know you must be really worried but there is not much you can do at this stage. If you are not contacted within 6 months from the date of the incident it is very unlikely that a prosecution will be initiated against you. So it is better to wait, do not contact them. If it is a 1st time offence I can assure you that you will be ok! I am and I was very scared at first, same as you or even worse! Best wishes, Rosa

Hi there, I just replied to your message. Yes, my inbox is always full with emails of people in the same situation. It is crazy! Some people are really nice and appreciate my advice and my time and always come back to thank me or let me know how things are going, others just take the advice and don't even bother to thank me! thankfully, the majority is nice. I cleared the inbox. You can try now.

Hi there, Yes, I've just replied. Sry 4 the late reply but I have loads of emails sent to my inbox everyday and I try to answer all of them as quick as I can.

Hi there, Try now.

Hi There, Believe it or not I am still waiting!!! Loooong Story! I will write a final post when the story is over. If you want to discuss this matter further send me a private message. Let me know what happened and when. I'll try to do my best to help you.

Hi moral, I am still waiting to solve my problem. It takes a while! Your situation is not as bad as mine as I was caught using a freedom pass!!! Wait until you receive any correspondence from London Underground. They will give you a chance to reply to their letter and explain what happened. re £1000 I think you don't have to worry about this if it is your first offence. if you are not successful and you are prosecuted you will end up with a criminal record. There are a lot of threads about this if you want to have a look. Wait until you receive the letter, believe me there is nothing you can do until you receive it! when and if you receive the letter you can start worrying about it. all the best, Rosa

I'll try to call them, not sure what to say really. I was using a freedom pass that was not mine! I'll try but I am sure I will not get away with it. Your situation can happen as TFL knows that the system and oyster card readers are sometimes faulty, so I suppose that is acceptable. I used a Freedom Pass that was not mine, so the "offence" committed as no excuse I guess...

Hi Missylow, Thanks for your message & support. Could you please let me know if you sent any evidence with the letter you sent them to support everything you said or you just sent a letter explaining the situation. thank you.

Hi Guys, I hope you are all well. After 2 months I received LU's letter. It states the following: "On (day) at (time) an incident took place at x tube station whereby you were spoken to by a member of London Underground staff regarding your train journey and the associated fare. The facts of this incident are now being considered and I must advise you that legal proceedings may be initiated against you regarding this matter in accordance with the London Underground prosecution policy. If you have any comments to make regarding this incident please write them on the reverse side of this letter and complete the information panel below, returning the whole letter in the freepost envelope provided which does not require a stamp, within 10 days. You do not have to reply to this letter but it may harm your defence if you do not mention something which you may later rely on in court. Anything that you do provide in writing may be used in evidence. Failure to respond to this letter may result in the matter being progressed by the London Underground Prosecutions Department without further notification." There is a box at the bottom of the letter where they ask to complete the following info: - Surname, - Forename, - Date of birth, - Address, - Post Code, - Telephone number, - Occupation, - Signature + Date The letter is signed by the prosecution manager and it also has a bar code. I would be extremely grateful if you could give me some advice regarding the above. Thank you so much.

Hi there! Do you have any idea of the procedure to follow re underground (Tube)? and people that were caught with other person's freedom pass? Thank you in advance.

Thanks guys for all your help. Let's see what's going to happen... :?

Undergound, I suppose you are right. I'm going to wait for the letter. There is not much I can do now, apart from thinking about it everyday and wishing to go back in time...

I am fully aware of the reality of my situation. That is why I registered with the Consumer Forum for help and I am super stressed. I am not asking help in order to avoid paying for my stupid mistake I just do not want to have a criminal record. I Know I've made a big mistake and I should be punished for it but I think that a criminal record is a bit disproportionate. If I was rich or had good lawyers like Kate Moss, Pete Doherty or even the killers of Holly and Jessica or Jamie Bulger I would not be in this situation! I would be protected by the police and be able to continue with my life. That is the point I'm trying to make a criminal record for a first and ONLY offence is too harsh.