A DAY in court is rarely a good day, and for train fare dodgers, they’re often very bad days.
Several people who failed to pay their rail fares and subsequently neglected to pay up after being asked to were handed fines from Reading Magistrates Court in the last week of June (unless otherwise stated).
Some of them were told to pay huge amounts worth several times more than the fee they were originally supposed to pay.
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Here are five Berkshire train-ticket dodgers who will have to pay huge fines.
Dominik Domek, of Argyle Street, Reading, was forced to £441.60 (including court costs) after skipping a train fare worth £7.60.
This means he paid 57 times more than he originally should have.
The 42-year-old was caught out at Reading train station on January 24, 2021.
Thor Freeborn, of Matthews Court, Ascot, should have paid £3.90 for a train ticket to Reading on December 15, 2020.
The 25-year-old ended up paying a £220 fine and an extra £217.90 in court costs after failing to pay for their fare, however.
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That’s a rise of 111 per cent.
Rebecca Gosden, 18, failed to pay for a £9.20 ticket to Reading on the same day as Mr Freeborn.
The teenager, of Balfour Crescent, Bracknell, instead was ordered to pay £503 in fines, compensation and court costs last week.
That’s 53 times more than she was originally asked to cough up.
Levi Heholt, of Bucknell Avenue, Reading, was ordered to pay £436.80 at the same court last week.
This is because the 39-year-old skipped a £2.80 rail fare to Reading in January 2021.
The offence landed him with a fee 150 times greater than it should have been.
It was a similar story for Ibrahim Machomo, of Institute Road, Maidenhead after he skipped a £9.80 train fare to Reading on December 23, 2020.
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The 25-year-old was consequently forced to pay £443.80 in fines and court costs.
That’s a 4,428 per cent hike.
Mohammad Ahmed, of Arthur Road, Slough paid 65 times more than he should have done when he dodged his fare on December 23, 2020.
The 19-year-old was caught at London Paddington without a ticket that would have cost him £10.20.
Instead, he will now have to pay £674.20 in fines and court costs.
Ahmed’s fee was revealed at City of London Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, June 23.
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