Court case for fare evasion

So around 2 months ago, I was travelling from one station that didn't have any barriers to another which did, I didn’t have my pass on me so I told the person who worked there and he let me through and he gave me a fine £20 he said a letter would come to your house next day and basically for financial reasons I didn’t deal with the letters, the next one increased it to to £40 and the one after made it £60.
I tried to pay after on the online system, but it said my name didnt come up on the system and then the day after that I've got another letter from them saying that I would have a court case and the letter said that I have 21 days to read either guilty or not guilty and that If I pleaded guilty then I get a reduction of 33% of whatever fine they give, I think it's up to 1000 pounds and also said I would get a criminal conviction and that I would get a criminal record.
I’m not sure what to do here, unfortunately I didn’t deal with with earlier. And now having got this letter, I have to put it on every job I apply for!
Anyone had this happen to them? How’d u deal with it?

why couldn’t you just put a different address and a different name? It’s not like they’ll be able to find out. That’s what I do, I tell them a random address and a random name that I think of

Disgusting.

why couldn’t you just put a different address and a different name? It’s not like they’ll be able to find out. That’s what I do, I tell them a random address and a random name that I think of

why is that disgusting lol?

So around 2 months ago, I was travelling from one station that didn't have any barriers to another which did, I didn’t have my pass on me so I told the person who worked there and he let me through and he gave me a fine £20 he said a letter would come to your house next day and basically for financial reasons I didn’t deal with the letters, the next one increased it to to £40 and the one after made it £60.
I tried to pay after on the online system, but it said my name didnt come up on the system and then the day after that I've got another letter from them saying that I would have a court case and the letter said that I have 21 days to read either guilty or not guilty and that If I pleaded guilty then I get a reduction of 33% of whatever fine they give, I think it's up to 1000 pounds and also said I would get a criminal conviction and that I would get a criminal record.
I’m not sure what to do here, unfortunately I didn’t deal with with earlier. And now having got this letter, I have to put it on every job I apply for!
Anyone had this happen to them? How’d u deal with it?

Anyone had this happen to them?

How’d u deal with it?

I know, just never had money to pay them, didn’t get any jsa at all, and there wasn’t any work, not sure what to do, if I explained mitigating circumstances, I’d have to plead not guilty, but if I was found guilty, they’d prosecute me(

I don't know what was more stupid. Allowing himself to get caught the way that he did or allowing a £20 fine to become a £1000 fine with a court summons.

I tried to pay after on the online system, but it said my name didnt come up on the system and then the day after that I've got another letter from them saying that I would have a court case and the letter said that I have 21 days to read either guilty or not guilty and that If I pleaded guilty then I get a reduction of 33% of whatever fine they give, I think it's up to 1000 pounds and also said I would get a criminal conviction and that I would get a criminal record.
I’m not sure what to do here, unfortunately I didn’t deal with with earlier. And now having got this letter, I have to put it on every job I apply for!
Anyone had this happen to them? How’d u deal with it?

You might still be able to get the train company to accept a settlement and drop the court case. For example, see section 15 here: https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/legal/fines-penalties/fines-and-penalty-faqs/822-penalties-appeals-and-payments

I suspect you'd need to make an offer of a sensible amount to reflect the penalty due and the costs they've incurred in processing the paperwork for the prosecution case so far. Bear in mind the benefits to you of not getting a criminal record. Write to them and say that you'd like to settle out of court and are willing to pay the fare and the costs that they've incurred. See what they offer.

There are other discussion boards on the web which cover cases like this (I think I saw someone mention one on this thread, but the post has been removed) so perhaps do some web searches.

At the moment you don't have a conviction, so you don't need to declare it. You want to avoid getting a conviction, so (a) make an offer to settle out of court, and (b) don't ever try to fare dodge again.

You might still be able to get the train company to accept a settlement and drop the court case. For example, see section 15 here: https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/legal/fines-penalties/fines-and-penalty-faqs/822-penalties-appeals-and-payments

I suspect you'd need to make an offer of a sensible amount to reflect the penalty due and the costs they've incurred in processing the paperwork for the prosecution case so far. Bear in mind the benefits to you of not getting a criminal record. Write to them and say that you'd like to settle out of court and are willing to pay the fare and the costs that they've incurred. See what they offer.

There are other discussion boards on the web which cover cases like this (I think I saw someone mention one on this thread, but the post has been removed) so perhaps do some web searches.

At the moment you don't have a conviction, so you don't need to declare it. You want to avoid getting a conviction, so (a) make an offer to settle out of court, and (b) don't ever try to fare dodge again.

Thanks, I noticed it was about the northern railway, do you think the same applies to the southeastern railway (London) or not?
Also

Thanks for this, I’ve just called southeastern who’s now redirected me to the prosecutions company. They’re saying they’re not in a position to advise but I could write to southeastern and they’re trying to settle out of court due to the pandemic.
I wanted to ask how I should form the letter and whether or not I should offer money, and if so, how much I should offer?
The initial fare was £3:40, the fine given was £20, which then went from £40 to £60, and now it says application is being made by southeastern prosecutions for a £135 contribution to the costs of southeastern, as well as a £3:40 train fare cost.

Any advice would be helpful and appreciated)

So around 2 months ago, I was travelling from one station that didn't have any barriers to another which did, I didn’t have my pass on me so I told the person who worked there and he let me through and he gave me a fine £20 he said a letter would come to your house next day and basically for financial reasons I didn’t deal with the letters, the next one increased it to to £40 and the one after made it £60.
I tried to pay after on the online system, but it said my name didnt come up on the system and then the day after that I've got another letter from them saying that I would have a court case and the letter said that I have 21 days to read either guilty or not guilty and that If I pleaded guilty then I get a reduction of 33% of whatever fine they give, I think it's up to 1000 pounds and also said I would get a criminal conviction and that I would get a criminal record.
I’m not sure what to do here, unfortunately I didn’t deal with with earlier. And now having got this letter, I have to put it on every job I apply for!
Anyone had this happen to them? How’d u deal with it?

You don't have to put it on every job application. Employers can only ask about convictions if it is relevant to the role, so that is primarily education, healthcare and finance roles.

Not quite correct. An employer is entitled to ask about any unspent convictions regardless of role.

A fine doesn't become spent until one year after the conviction.

Thanks, I noticed it was about the northern railway, do you think the same applies to the southeastern railway (London) or not?
Also

Thanks for this, I’ve just called southeastern who’s now redirected me to the prosecutions company. They’re saying they’re not in a position to advise but I could write to southeastern and they’re trying to settle out of court due to the pandemic.
I wanted to ask how I should form the letter and whether or not I should offer money, and if so, how much I should offer?
The initial fare was £3:40, the fine given was £20, which then went from £40 to £60, and now it says application is being made by southeastern prosecutions for a £135 contribution to the costs of southeastern, as well as a £3:40 train fare cost.

Any advice would be helpful and appreciated)