Wife used my monthly Train ticket and got caught - ** SETTLED **

[noveum]

In a nutshell,

 

My wife took my FCC monthly pass and used it to go to town.

 

This is the first time she did it and it was a stupid thing to do.

 

The gate man stopped her and realised it was her husbands pass.

 

Filled out a witness statement says she has committed Fraud.

 

Obviously my wife was distraught as she has never been in any trouble

and this was used once as she is on maternity leave at present so used it as a 1st saturday in london in 6months.

 

Whilst we cant argue with the offence.

We are some what worried what will happen should a serving notice to prosecute come in the post?

 

She admitted fault and offered to pay by the train inspector a having none of it.

 

She works in finance as is worried that if it follows on to court will she get a criminal record?

 

I see a lot of posts saying we should write to the Prosecution office at FCC but very few seem to say 'thanks all, I wrote t them and sorted it all out after paying a few and costs etc?'

 

We are going crazy with worry.

Any guidance would really help right now.

[fletch70]

Here's a question, does the train ticket go with a photo card. If it does did she change the photo cards over?

[dx100uk]

await the letter first

 

should work

 

we all know what hormones do during pegnancy.........

 

dx

[Old-CodJA]

It is unfortunate, but I cannot offer hope that your wife will not receive a letter advising her that FCC intend to prosecute, but she should not let this overshadow everything in life.

 

The matter of photocards might be a bit of a 'red herring'. It does not matter whether the photocard was swapped or not. A season can only be used with the photocard the number of which recorded on in and by the person depicted on that photocard.

 

It is easy to say that the TOC might accept an out of Court settlement, but there are no guarantees. There is a case precedent in Browning v Floyd (1946) where the Appeal Court decided that a person who uses another person's season ticket has not paid their fare.

 

The only thing to do at this stage is to wait until that letter arrives from the TOC because then your wife will have the unique reference allocated to her case and will be able to respond meaningfully .

 

It is not beyond the realms of possibility that a settlement can be reached, but it is unusual. The TOCs see this as a very serious matter.

 

Once the letter arrives, come back and let us know exactly what it says and perhaps then we will be able to offer useful suggestions.

[noveum]

Yes. The ticket inspector said that the ticket does not match the photo id. But did not write that part down in the statement.

[Old-CodJA]

Yes. The ticket inspector said that the ticket does not match the photo id. But did not write that part down in the statement.

 

 

That will not make any difference to the report and charge. The likely chargeable offence is

 

1) using a season ticket issued for the sole use of another person with intent to avoid a fare contrary to Section 5.3.a of The Regulation of Railways Act [1889]

[noveum]

Is it worth trying to call the office and speak to someone? If it goes to court and found 'guilty' what would be the knock on effect?

- Financial and criminal?

 

I fear the criminal conviction may lead to loss of job?

[Old-CodJA]

These cases are considered to be a serious breach of trust.

 

I assume that your wife is over 18 years of age and therefore has to deal with this herself. The TOC are very unlikely to discuss the matter with a third party who was not present at the time unless either a lawyer, or if they consider it worth pursuing the charge that you may have knowingly lent her your season and then they might wish to call you in for an interview under the Police & Criminal Evidence Act (1984) to determine whether you might also be charged with an offence contrary to National Railway Byelaw 22 (2005)

 

If convicted, the maximum penalty may be a fine of up to £1000, but in practice, the fine will be considerably less than that

 

I would certainly not rush into anything, wait until your wife gets that letter. It can take up to 6 or even 8 weeks at busy times. Don't let it worry you too much and in pretty long experience of dealing with these things, I really do think that it doesn't help by trying to 'jump the gun' as it were

 

After all, it is at least remotely possible that the inspector might lose his notes, or someone in the office loses the report and if that happens, no letter will arrive

[BazzaS]

Is it worth trying to call the office and speak to someone? If it goes to court and found 'guilty' what would be the knock on effect?

- Financial and criminal?

 

I fear the criminal conviction may lead to loss of job?

 

The (good) advice to await the letter takes into consideration the fact that if you phone before you get the letter, it will mean you won't have a reference no. from the TOC

 

There is thus the chance that they won't be able to link your call to their paperwork.

 

I know hormones can run riot in pregnancy, but I'm not sure that that equates to "pregnant ladies should get carte Blanche to evade fares & blame it on their hormones"

 

You could try to write to the TOC once you have their letter, with your wife accepting responsibility, using the pregnancy & disproportionate effect on her career to help persuade them to offer an out of court resolution.

Of course, that might make them think "pregnancy isn't an excuse, and if she works in finance and is worried about a conviction then she shouldn't fare dodge!" .... That's a risk with that approach.

[fletch70]

Alas the fact she swapped the photocard is an aggregating factor as it shows premeditation. I was asking to gain all the facts,always a good starting point.

 

As for using pregnancy as an excuse long gone are the days where it was classed as an illness and dx you should be ashamed of yourself at promoting potential perjury or peverting the course of justice. If however there are genuine. reasons yes go for it. Tug at the heartstrings

[dx100uk]

The (good) advice to await the letter takes into consideration the fact that if you phone before you get the letter, it will mean you won't have a reference no. from the TOC

 

There is thus the chance that they won't be able to link your call to their paperwork.

 

I know hormones can run riot in pregnancy, but I'm not sure that that equates to "pregnant ladies should get carte Blanche to evade fares & blame it on their hormones"

 

You could try to write to the TOC once you have their letter, with your wife accepting responsibility, using the pregnancy & disproportionate effect on her career to help persuade them to offer an out of court resolution.

Of course, that might make them think "pregnancy isn't an excuse, and if she works in finance and is worried about a conviction then she shouldn't fare dodge!" .... That's a risk with that approach.

 

oh i dunno

we're all 'i'm a lady' in one way or another

 

some just have to wear a dress everyday because of their job..............

 

 

dx

[fletch70]

speak for yourself dx

All man here and that'd how i like my men

[Old-CodJA]

Alas the fact she swapped the photocard is an aggregating factor as it shows premeditation..

 

Agreed, however the OP was asking about the likely outcomes and that will not make any difference to the charge laid, nor would it make a difference to whether the offender was charged or not.

 

It is much more common in transferred, or 'taken' season ticket cases for the offender not to show any photo-card at all and to claim to have 'left it at home', however the charge remains the same.

 

You are right in that, having chosen to use her spouse's season with her photocard makes securing conviction easier for the prosecutor.

Edited January 28, 2013 by Old-CodJA
Clarification

[noveum]

I know she is guitly and is mortified at her actions. She has never been in trouble with the law.

 

So from anyones experierience are you saying that FCC will prosecute and not even offer a fine in the post? This isnt a game as i am worried of the knock on effects of prosecution - jobs, family (we have a small family) etc..

 

In this example do we think that FCC wont even bother with offering an out of court settlement? Who can I call to try to intercept anything? I am now letting this over ride my day job and she is now a mess sat at home with the child.

 

If they write and dont offer anything but court summons - is it worth taking legal advice or just ticking the boxes and addmitting guilt/stupidity?

[fletch70]

I am sorry if you think i was being judgmental. Glass houses and all that. I asked what i did to try and find out the circumstances.

It certainly will do no harm in writing to them and doing your best to make an exceptional case. You do not say if your wife is pregnant or you have a new baby. Again you could word this to your advantage without using it as a reason. Lack of sleep,adjustments to being a new mum etc etc.

On another note, do you have to tell her employers about any criminal conviction, and how could they find out. I appreciate there could be consequences if you don't but something to think about.

[noveum]

I would need to check but i imagine the moral high ground would kick in and she would need to inform them? Worst case scenario - she is found guilty and given a criminal record - any one know how serious this is and under this scenario would it stick perminatly or for a period of time?

 

- We are a decent family not criminals?!

[fletch70]

Ok well criminal convictions are spent after a certain time. see the rehabilitation of offenders act. However for some jobs, mainly those to do with children and vulnerable people any conviction is never spent.

This doesn't mean that these jobs are not possible.

 

There are more people out there than you can imagine who are decent people who have made a mistake.

 

The moral highground is great. until it affects you and yours. I see no reason why you need to tell a current employer,

Depending on her job and responsibilities and the eventual charge nothing is certain. A charge of deception or fraud may have a more severe impact than a charge of travelling without a ticket.

[noveum]

A charge of deception or fraud may have a more severe impact than a charge of travelling without a ticket.

 

Would this be spent after a period of time do you think?

 

.just looking at worst case scenarios as I currently have a distraught wife at home who is shaking with fear?!

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

I honestly don't think you should let this take over your life. As Old-CodJA has said in the past, this isn't the end of the world.

 

The guys will help you through this, chin up.

 

My best, HB

[noveum]

Thanks HB. This site is so refreshing and seems to be a slight comfort.

I guess we wont know till the letter arrives?

[honeybee13]

Thanks HB. This site is so refreshing and seems to be a slight comfort.

I guess we wont know till the letter arrives?

 

I'm afraid you won't, no. Anything we can tell you is guesswork, but as you see, you get answers to your questions.

 

HB

[fletch70]

Yes it will be spent after a period of time. But try not to worry. There is no good worrying about what might never happen. After all you may get hit by a bus tomorrow! It's being so cheerful that keeps me going

[noveum]

So the wife has sent today a letter to the FCC prosecution office pleading with them not to take matters further with a number of reasons along with a huge 'Hands up in the air, I was stupid and wrong and sorry' section.

I know we have not even been sent a letter yet saying they plan to prosecute but i am hoping that if we can contact them ASAP then when it does come up then at least we have tried?

 

If the letter does come then at least we know we have sent something in that we can reference. If no action was ever planned (unlikely) then we may have just made FCC aware of us but i think it wont matter.

[honeybee13]

So the wife has sent today a letter to the FCC prosecution office pleading with them not to take matters further with a number of reasons along with a huge 'Hands up in the air, I was stupid and wrong and sorry' section.

I know we have not even been sent a letter yet saying they plan to prosecute but i am hoping that if we can contact them ASAP then when it does come up then at least we have tried?

 

If the letter does come then at least we know we have sent something in that we can reference. If no action was ever planned (unlikely) then we may have just made FCC aware of us but i think it wont matter.

 

Well, there's no guarantee that they will tie it up with the other papers about your wife, but as you say, you can show them a copy later I suppose.

 

It's not what we normally recommend, but you feel better, it counts for something.

 

HB

[fletch70]

For what its worth i would have done the same thing.

Just remember if the worst happens it doesn't make anyone a bad person and think carefully before you confess to anyone.