Published on: Friday, 26 May 2017
Last updated: Friday, 26 May 2017
More than 150 fare dodgers have been taken to court by train operator Greater Anglia and ordered to pay fines totalling almost £28,000.
The train company brought prosecutions in Southend Magistrates’ Court against 150 people deliberately evading paying for a ticket and caught by Revenue Protection Inspectors. They were all caught in Essex, on the mainline between Colchester and Southend and the county’s branch lines.
Magistrates imposed fines totalling £22,047 and ordered defendants to pay costs of £2,500, as well as telling them to pay the fares they tried to avoid to Greater Anglia.
Meanwhile, 30 people who deliberated travelled without tickets north of Manningtree in Suffolk and Norfolk were prosecuted in Ipswich Magistrates’ Court. Magistrates imposed fines of £5,280 and costs of £2,500. They also told the defendants to pay the outstanding fares.
Scott Williams, 36, of no fixed abode, appeared before Southend Magistrates’ Court on Monday 22 May, to be sentenced for six cases of fare evasion. He was sentenced to a 12 month Community Order, with a ten-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement and 80 hours Unpaid Work.
Andrew Goodrum, Greater Anglia Customer Services Director, said: “It is much cheaper to just pay for your fare than to be caught by one of our Revenue Protection Inspectors.
“If people do not pay their fares we have less money to invest into improving our railway, which can lead to ticket prices going up for everyone. It’s not fair that law-abiding customers should have to pay for fare dodgers’ travel.”