Hi All, Firstly, thank you for this great website and the useful info. I try to shorten my story. A few months ago I found a freedom pass outside of the station and without studying the card, I used it. I am not from this country and until that day I wasn't aware of this type of pass. I didn't even think this was illegal to use other people's Oyster because that one I have is a pay as you go and my colleagues have are not personal cards and people borrow each other's Oyster cards. The card I found was in a normal Oyster case (the black case with some red and yellow writing on it) and the back of the card was facing to me and in the first glance I didn't see there was a photo of a man and it took less than a minute since I found the card and got caught. So no time to go through the writings on the back of the card and 'Terms and Conditions' Anyway, I got a letter from London Underground and I replied to them. Then I got a letter (summons) from the court for 8th of Nov. I sent an apologetic email to the Prosecutions Manager for an out of court settlement and his assistant got back to me and refused it. I emailed again and he said that they don't believe I was not aware of this and they want to proceed this in the court. Now I have to send the letter to the court and plead guilty. I am not sure what happens next and how can I persuade them I wasn't aware of the type of the card. And how I can get the minimum charge (if at all possible) The other thing is, I didn't ever got on the train. They stopped me at the gate and they are claiming for the journey that I didn't make! £5.30 for one way ticket and 130 pounds for the admin cost so far + potential fine (which God knows how much it would be). The pay as you go one way ticket is £3.20 which I have already paid for. Any advice on how I should write my mitigation letter is highly appreciated. I have attached the Word doc that I have prepared for the court. Is it possible that somebody reads it and gives me a feedback please? I went to Citizen Advice but they didn't look at it. They are there just for people under benefits and debt not for the court cases. Many thanks, Helen