Man caught using train without railcard ends up with court bill 47x bigger than fare
Being unable to produce a railcard to go with a £16.60 train fare has cost one man more than 47x that amount at court.
Harpeed Singh must pay out more than £700 after he was convicted of fare dodging in his absence on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old from High Street, West Bromwich, paid £16.60 to travel from Crewe to Manchester Piccadilly on March 13, but was unable to produce a 16-25 railcard to go with his advance ticket once he'd arrived at his destination.
The court heard: "When requested the defendant was unable to produce the accompanying railcard. His details were obtained and he was advised the facts would be reported.
"Following the incident a letter was sent to the defendant requesting an explanation, as there was no response, a Fixed Penalty Notice was then sent. However this remains unpaid."
After failing to reply to the litter and penalty notice, Singh was also a no-show at North Cheshire Magistrates Court in Warrington on Wednesday, leading to the case being proved in his absence.
He was ordered to pay a £440 fine, £16.60 compensation, £150 costs and a £176 surcharge.
In total he must pay £782.60.
https://news.courtsdesk.co.uk/uk/magistrates/cases/f2cba451-1217-4e03-a4bc-573a0284f859
