Train ticket inspectors!!!!!?

Question

Three weeks ago(Wednesday) I had to board a train without paying for a ticket with the intension of paying on the train, however northern rail send two carriages and it was packed to the rim so much that people who wanted to get on at at the last stop before everyone gets off couldnt get on. This is the busy time aswell. So I get off at salford crescent and was in a rush to get to my labs so a ran up the stairs thinking I don't want to be late. Saw the ticket inspectors when I got to top of stair case, turned around back the the ticket man on the station but one fo them ran after me and said wheres my ticket and I said i didnt have one and he said come with me so i gave him my details and went off. Got the letter though yesterday asking for a exsplaination, then goes on about legal stuff saying I could get a criminal record. For what!!!!!!!! I have broken a companies policy not the law! Anyone with any help on my situation will be handy.

Answer 1

Its company policy and also law that when receiving a service like transport you pay.  Just like you take a taxi somewhere.  You pay before you get out.  Everyone else has to pay, so why should you not have to pay.  I know you may have been in a hurry, but still you should pay like everyone else.

Answer 2

Railway byelaws - which have the might of the general law to back them up - state clearly that it is a criminal offence to travel on a UK train without paying the proper fare. If there is a ticket office or machine then you must pay before boarding the train. If there is not, then you must pay the conductor. If he/she does not come round then it is your duty to pay the collector at your destination. Running away from those collectors was an extremely stupid thing to do - you should have risked being a couple of minutes late at work. Yes, unless you can resolve the matter you could well end up with a criminal record if Northern Rail decided to prosecute you for travelling without a ticket.

Answer 3

Company policy reflects the law pretty good... you have to pay for the services rendered.  My advice is that you very clearly explain your actions and intentions in the hopes that you can convince them that you've not done wrong.

Answer 4

Your suspicious actions make me (and most likely the ticket inspectors) suspect you never intended to pay for the ticket, and now you're panicking because you've realised that you've broken the law (not company policies - you've taken a service for which you haven't paid and that is against the law - you're equal in status to a petty thief).

Why is it suspicious? Because you say that you had the "intension" (sic) of paying on the train, but then had ticket inspectors running after you when challenged at Salford Crescent. That tells me you never intended to pay. Any decent human being would have paid there and then (there is sometimes no penalty for doing so).

Pay what you owe, send them an apology, and hope that they don't proceed with a criminal prosecution. And pay for the ticket next time.