In message , at 20:02:00 on
Thu, 5 Mar 2009, Paul Corfield remarked:
Clearly your pass was not valid to use on EMT while when you travelled
to Reading on First Great Western it was valid in combination with an
extension.

To the OP: Did EMT at any time offer to show you a document that
explained (like the website you've been directed to) in simple terms
that the Freedom Pass wasn't valid? That might have defused the
situation, and avoided any further action other than you paying the
replacement fare. If not, you might want to mention that.
--
Roland Perry