okay thanks guys, I'll pay the fine and if next time I've forgotten my railcard, I think it would be alot easier to just not have a ticket and make up a bull**** story lol xD

ok thanks for your reply. So I have no case against this? I mean it just feels really unfair to pay £35 (worth more than a years worth of railcard) just because I left mine at home... the rail company sure knows how to make money...

Hey guys, Just found this forum when I was searching about appealing Southern Rail Prosecutions Hope you guys can give me some advice. I was recently prosecuted for forgetting my Young Persons Railcard while using a discounted travelcard to travel from London Victoria to East Croydon. I explained to the officer at the station that I do have one and I can prove it online as the Y/P website keeps a record of ur railcard. I also told him that the reason I did not realise I had forgotten it was because I usually keep it in my wallet and I had taken it out for something but forgot to put it back. The difference in fare was only around 3 pounds and he wanted to charge me a £20 fine. When I said I did not have that much money on me he just told me to give him whatever I had, by which point I found it quite fishy. Therefore I refused to pay the fine and offered to ask my mother to drive over with my railcard, which he also declined because "I do not have it on person". Anyways he proceeded with sending me a prosecution notice which I replied to with my version of things and the reply I got back was that they will let me off for a fine of £35, which is pretty ridiculous. If I don't pay the fine will they prosecute me in court? (I read on the news somewhere that it is not a criminal office to evade fare so one cannot get a criminial record for it, is this true?) Also is there anything I can do/say to them to try and reason or will my effort be in vain because they simply want to make money from unsuspecting passengers? Any help will be greatly appreciated