Latest news with #faredodging
Telegraph
a day ago
- Telegraph
Prolific train fare-dodger ‘caught 30 more times while on bail'
One of Britain's most prolific fare-dodgers committed 30 further offences while on bail, a court has been told. Charles Brohiri, who had been charged with more than 100 charges of travelling without a train ticket, was caught fare-dodging as recently as Aug 18, prosecutors say. The homeless 28-year-old appeared before Westminster magistrates' court for sentence on Wednesday, having been convicted of 36 offences of fare evasion in May, with a further 83 offences put aside. Bail conditions imposed in April banned him from going into any Thameslink station, but the court was told he had been caught without a ticket a further 30 times since then. Barrister Alistair Richardson, for the train company, said: 'It's only right we make the court aware that since that case, there have been 30 further offences. The first was on May 9 and the most recent was two days ago on Aug 18. 'That is also set in the context of putting aside 83 further offences.' Brohiri has seven previous convictions for similar offences. But the court was told that he was now challenging his convictions, alleging that Thameslink broke the law in the way it previously prosecuted him. His sentencing has been delayed until December so a judge can hear legal arguments on the matter in what could be a test case that determines if thousands of others have their convictions for fare evasion wiped. Last week, Department for Transport (DfT) officials said train companies may have broken the law by letting staff members who were not legally trained bring prosecutions against alleged fare-evaders. Only qualified lawyers, such as solicitors and barristers, are legally allowed to conduct criminal prosecutions, but for decades, train fare evasion prosecutions were brought by non-lawyers. Brohiri argues many of his convictions were obtained unlawfully by Thameslink because the prosecutor previously in charge of his case, Gareth Ring, was one of those so-called lay prosecutors. Challenge could open floodgates If his challenge is successful, other accused fare-dodgers are likely to adopt the same argument. District Judge John Zani said the court would have to decide whether Thameslink broke the law before it could sentence Brohiri, meaning a further delay in dispensing justice. 'There needs to be an inquiry here,' he said, explaining that the court would have to rule on whether Brohiri's convictions were lawfully obtained. If they were valid – 'notwithstanding the non-compliance with the Criminal Practice Direction and Criminal Procedure Rules in respect of the application for summons' – then the court could deal with Brohiri, said Judge Zani. Judge refuses to revoke bail Thameslink applied to have Brohiri remanded in custody pending his sentencing, on the grounds that he had already broken his bail conditions on more than 30 separate occasions and could not be trusted not to breach them again. But the judge declined. Brohiri did not speak during the hearing, other than to confirm his email address and that he is of no fixed abode. His sentencing has now been adjourned until Dec 16. The court will sit before then to hear from lawyers on whether Brohiri was lawfully prosecuted or not. A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group, an association of train companies, said: 'All train operators take their legal responsibilities very seriously, and make sure they always act fairly towards customers. 'As a result of new legal advice on the use of lay prosecutors, train companies are taking steps to review the way they carry out prosecutions, so they are certain they comply with their legal obligations, and make sure they are fair and robust. 'Fare evasion remains a significant challenge for the industry, costing the railway between £350-400m each year. 'That's money that can't be used to improve services, which increases the burden on customers and taxpayers.'
Daily Mail
09-06-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Moment 'fare dodger' is warned he could be committing fraud after only paying for short part of his journey
This is the moment a train passenger was caught travelling on a discounted ticket without his money-saving railcard - before being reported for suspected fraud. The man was stopped by a revenue protection officer at the barriers at London Waterloo station after arriving on a South Western Railway (SWR) service. He had bought the ticket with a railcard discount but failed to present the card, meaning he faced a penalty fare of £100 plus the price of the full single fare. But the officer became suspicious when he found that the ticket from Vauxhall to Waterloo had been bought only 20 minutes earlier, and not scanned at Vauxhall. When the passenger provided his identity details and address, the officer noted that he lived in Sunbury-on-Thames, much further down the SWR line in Surrey. This meant the officer suspected that the man may have been attempting a 'short fare', which is where passengers only buy a ticket for part of your journey. Commuters on SWR often travel into London from much further afield but buy an e-ticket from a stop near Waterloo such as Vauxhall for a cheaper fare. This means they can try to go through the barriers at Waterloo and avoid paying for the full journey. The incident is the latest to feature in the popular Channel 5 programme Fare Dodgers: At War With The Law, which is airing on Monday nights at 9pm. It saw officer Jack challenge the passenger who arrived at Waterloo on a ticket from Vauxhall, telling him: 'We're checking for railcards'. The man tells Jack: 'Railcard? I don't have the railcard on me. Do I need to buy another ticket then? 'I know that if you go on the website, it can show you that you've got a railcard – does that make sense - because it's a physical one not a digital one.' But when Jack starts looking into the ticket more closely, he discovers it was bought about 20 minutes earlier and was not scanned at Vauxhall. The passenger says: 'I realised I was coming here because I was meeting my girlfriend or whatever. I live round Vauxhall.' Jack then asks the man for his details, which he provides, but his address is listed as Sunbury - not Vauxhall. Jack tells him: 'I'm going to be very blunt and very honest with you. Your address is in Sunbury, your ticket hasn't been scanned in at Vauxhall. When I report this about the railcard, they're going to investigate the ticket as part of that.' The passenger is then told that if it is found he travelled from elsewhere, he could be handed a more expensive penalty. He simply replies: 'Perfect, yeah, cheers.' And in a sign he has been through the process before, the man adds: 'They normally take quite long with this though, don't they? Takes a couple of weeks.' Asked by the officer again whether he travelled from Sunbury, the man says: 'No, no, I travelled from Vauxhall.' Jack then reports him to the fraud team, telling the programme: 'This person in particular hasn't scanned in his QR at Vauxhall. Bought it 20 minutes ago which indicates to me he may have travelled from further. 'So the railcard that he did put on the ticket, he wasn't carrying with him, so we've reported him under that fact, and then we're going to ask the fraud team to investigate the rest of it.' The case is then sent to SWR's fraud department for further investigation, with the man facing prosecution if he had not been truthful about where he travelled from. MailOnline has covered a series of incidents featured in the Channel 5 documentary, which comes as Robert Jenrick highlighted fare dodging another London station. The shadow justice secretary posted a video on social media last Thursday in which he confronted people who forced their way through the ticket barriers at Stratford. He asked one person 'do you think it's alright not to pay' and challenged another to 'go back through the barrier and pay'. At the top of an escalator he said to one person 'do you want to go back and pay like everybody else'? Mr Jenrick later told the BBC that he wants authorities to 'step up' and 'reassert these basic rules', adding that he wants transport bodies to understand 'that these things are not small rule breaks', and said he was 'unapologetic' about sharing the clip. But the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association union said the video was 'not only inappropriate but also potentially dangerous for passengers, staff and the individual involved'. Further incidents featured in the Channel 5 show have included passengers trying to push through barriers to avoid having to touch in or out. Others resort to violence if they are caught, with shocking videos filmed at stations showing passengers attacking police officers or punching security guards. Some try doing 'doughnut tickets', which is where you buy a short ticket for the first part of the journey, to scan the QR code on your entry barrier; and then another short ticket for the last section, to scan out at your destination station. This can lead to a much cheaper fare because you do not pay for the lengthier middle section of the trip - meaning there is a hole in the journey, hence the 'doughnut'. Separately, a report released on Wednesday found fare evasion is becoming 'normalised', with train staff telling the inquiry that they are struggling to cope with 'aggressive' passengers who refuse to buy tickets. Travellers are using 'a range of techniques to persistently' underpay or avoid paying and see it as a 'victimless crime ', according to the Office of Road and Rail (ORR). Staff enduring abusive behaviour when asking fare-dodgers to present their tickets are warning that evasion is becoming 'increasingly more challenging to tackle'. The report had been commissioned to look at concerns some passengers were being unfairly prosecuted by train operators over genuine mistakes when buying tickets. But it found fare evasion is a mounting problem now costing taxpayers £400million a year which is resulting in higher fares and less investment cash to improve services. Meanwhile TikTok influencers are brazenly showing Tube passengers how to illegally travel for free by 'bumping' through the station ticket barriers. Young men are filming themselves laughing and joking with each other as they push through the wide-aisle gates in videos liked by hundreds of thousands of viewers. The gates, which were first installed in 2008 at a cost of £12million, are normally used by wheelchair users, older people, parents with children and travellers with luggage. But they are increasingly being used by fare dodgers who either push through the gap in the middle, or quickly follow someone in front of them who touches out. 'Fare Dodgers: At War with the Law' is on Channel 5 on Monday evenings at 9pm
Telegraph
06-06-2025
- Telegraph
‘It's getting silly': The influencers teaching commuters how to fare-dodge
TikTok influencers are promoting fare-dodging on the London Underground in viral 'bumping' videos that have racked up millions of views. In dozens of videos seen by The Telegraph, TikTok users show off by pushing through the barriers at Transport for London (TfL) stations and other rail services, a practice known as 'bumping' on the app. One account holder had uploaded more than 50 videos of them skipping the barriers at different Underground stations. A video with 72,000 views celebrated 'bumping from London to Scotland by train'. Some clips have attracted hundreds of comments celebrating different techniques for squeezing through the barriers. Another with 128,000 views showed off 'TfL hacks', including codes for opening gates at stations. In one video, a masked TikTok user who has just jumped a station barrier says: 'At what age are we gonna stop bumping trains? It's getting silly.' He suggests he might start paying rail fares when he is 25. 'Normalised' Earlier this week, a government report found that rail staff feared fare-dodging had become 'normalised' and was viewed by offenders as a 'victimless crime'. A report from the Office of Road and Rail said: 'As well as occasional opportunistic fare evaders, there are some individuals who use a range of techniques to persistently underpay and avoid their fares.' Staff reported being met with 'aggressive and abusive behaviour' when trying to check the tickets of fare-dodgers. Some videos on TikTok showed fare-dodgers filming their interactions with station staff, goading them or trying to talk their way out of paying for fares. Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said: 'There is an epidemic of fare-dodging in this country. Yobs are laughing at working people who do the right thing. It's a disgrace. I am sick to my back teeth of it – the authorities need to be shamed into action.' Last week Mr Jenrick filmed himself confronting fare-dodgers at Stratford Station amid growing public anger that petty crime is going unpunished. Writing for The Telegraph last week, he said: 'I watched as people flooded through an empty barrier, while the enforcement officer was on his backside, feet up, watching on. It was a perfect encapsulation of Broken Britain. 'For ordinary hard-working citizens travelling into work on their morning commute, the sight of somebody slipping through the barriers without paying is a slap in the face.' However, on TikTok, many commenters praised the barrier-jumpers, encouraging them to try to dodge-fares at other stations. Some videos included people vandalising the barriers at stations. One video seen by The Telegraph was captioned: 'My excuse for bumping is that I don't support TfL funding. Bumping is a choice, I'm not broke.' Some channels are entirely dedicated to 'bumping'. One explains to uses 'how to bump narrow gates' on National Rail. The video says to wait until there is an 'influx' so the 'guards are distracted and s---'. It then says fare-dodgers should 'scope out your victim', follow behind them and cover the sensor on the gate. The user says 'follow for more bumping guides'. £400m a year The Government has said that fare-dodging costs the taxpayer £400m per year. Failure to pay on the Underground can result in a £100 fine, although this is halved if paid within 21 days. Deliberately dodging fares is a criminal offence and can lead to a criminal record and fines of up to £1,000. Sir Sadiq Khan has been expanding a team of professional investigators at TfL to catch persistent fare-dodgers. The transport authority has a target of halving fare-evasion by 2030. It is estimated that passengers avoid paying for up to 3.4pc of all TfL journeys. TikTok has long struggled with users sharing videos of petty criminal activity or extreme pranks to bolster their online following. Last year, The Telegraph found evidence of gangsters advertising for cannabis farmers on TikTok. People smugglers have also used the app to recruit people for small boat crossings. Influencers have meanwhile undertaken increasingly extreme pranks, such as a wave of TikTok users posting videos of themselves trespassing in people's homes. After The Telegraph reported the videos to TikTok, the social media app took many of them offline. Siwan Hayward, TfL's director of security, policing and enforcement, said: 'Fare evasion is unacceptable. That is why we are strengthening our capability to deter and detect fare evaders, including expanding our team of professional investigators to target the most prolific fare evaders across the network. 'This builds on the work of our team of more than 500 uniformed officers already deployed across the network to deal with fare evasion and other anti-social behaviour, keeping staff and customers safe.'
The Sun
30-05-2025
- General
- The Sun
Robert Jenrick says he chose to ‘get his hands dirty' and collar fare-dodgers after watching so many get away with it
ROBERT Jenrick collared fare-dodgers after watching so many get away with it, he says. The Shadow Justice Secretary tackled cheats at an East London Tube station, telling The Sun: 'Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty.' 2 Mr Jenrick said he saw 'dozens of freeloaders' slip through at Stratford in an hour. He is told to 'f*** off' as he pursues them in footage seen more than 12 million times. He blasts station staff for failing to intervene, and asks: 'What is the point of them if they don't bother doing their job? 'It shouldn't be left to the public to enforce the law.' In one case, he says to a basketball-hat wearing yob: 'You what?You're carrying a knife?' Mr Jenrick, MP for Newark, Notts, was criticised by some critics for not getting Transport for London permission to film in the station. He lost out to Kemi Badenoch in last year's Tory leadership race but is tipped to succeed her should she be forced out. He is understood to be planning more videos. I'll take Nigel Farage DOWN, blasts Robert Jenrick - he's about to get the oxygen sucked out of him 2
The Independent
30-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
I'm glad Robert Jenrick has joined my one-woman battle against fare-dodgers
A busy week for Robert Jenrick, who has been challenging fare evaders on the trains and Tubes this week, asking people why they appeared to have neglected to pay for their journey. I'm not surprised that the video clip of him confronting people who appeared to have forced their way through ticket barriers has been viewed more than 10m times. With his stunt – 'You're on camera, mate, you're bang to rights' – he's hit a nerve. He seemed to be in Stratford, east London, on the same day as I was; me visiting the V&A's new Storehouse museum, the shadow secretary of state for justice to discover why fare-dodging is costing Transport for London £130 million a year. If I'd known he was going to be going full vigilante, I'd have combined my visit to London's newest cultural jewel with a chance to join him in collaring the barrier-hoppers to ask why they were happy contributing to the recent 4.6 per cent rise in Tube fares. Because, like Jenrick, I don't mind calling out bad behaviour when I see it. On too many journeys on public transport, I see people – ok, men, it's always men – evading fares, barging through the barriers, or telling the bus driver that they don't have any money and are 'only going two stops'. When they're told to get off and they grudgingly open their Apple Pay, it feels like a minor victory for the whole of society. Last year, I was exiting the Tube at Victoria and felt someone press up behind me as I passed through the gate. They'd clearly done this so they didn't have to pay, and as we both cleared the gate, I asked them why they thought they were above paying for a ticket. The middle-aged man just said 'Don't want to', and walked off. When I told the gate staff what had happened, they said they weren't allowed to take any action and to leave any cases like this to revenue enforcement staff. But 'not my problem' seems to be the sum of it. Of course, I understand the risk of taking on people like this – in Jenrick's video, one evader claimed to be carrying a knife. But why do other passengers never think to politely address the people who are making their journeys more expensive? I've talked to people on buses who've evaded fares and reminded them that all the other passengers had paid, so why should they get a free ride? The response is either nothing, or an expletive. Frankly, I'm fed up with the sense of entitlement as well as the lack of action from officialdom. But I'm also furious that it falls to a 59-year-old woman to take on men who are breaking the law. I know I'm not the only woman who does this. I'm also not averse to asking people 'do they mind not listening to that without headphones?'. But please don't call us 'Karens'. We do it not to make people's lives a misery or for a sense of moral superiority, but because these fare-evaders don't seem to face much of a deterrent on any level. In the incidents I've witnessed on the railways, there isn't even a verbal rebuke from staff when passengers push through the gates, just a shrugging of the shoulders. Each train on the new Elizabeth Line, which cost almost £20bn to build, can carry 1,500 passengers – more in the rush hour crush, or after delays to the inexplicably unreliable service. By my calculations, that means, on average, eight people in your carriage won't have paid. Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, says TfL is increasing its teams of investigators and investing in new technology to stamp out fraud: the wide-access gates at every station, which open more slowly and so are a prime target for tail-gaters, could be made more difficult to barge through. Live facial recognition cameras powered by artificial intelligence would revolutionise the ability to detect and catch criminals. All of this can't come soon enough. On my Tube journey home from Stratford, I spotted half a dozen TfL revenue officers around an exit gate checking to see who had paid and questioning those who hadn't. I was pleased to see this; it was safety in numbers for the team, but also a very visible sign that you can't just push your way through because you don't fancy paying. Perhaps if there were a few more subtle and consistent reminders on public transport, not just the occasional swarm of blue-uniformed officers, it could make evaders think twice. But at the moment, it's just middle-aged women and the odd shadow secretary of state.
