Train passengers who travelled without buying a ticket must now pay hundreds of pounds in fines and compensation.
Several cases heard at Swindon Magistrates' Court recently involved prosecuting people who passed through Swindon and Wiltshire by rail while trying to avoid fares.
Each passenger must pay a fine of £220 along with £180 in court costs plus £88 to fund victim services along with a varying value of compensation, which meant that some sentencings turned unpaid ticket costs of less than £10 into a total sum of more than £500.
Yasser Alsharani, 36, of Marsh Street in Bristol, must pay £205.30 in compensation for entering a train at Swindon’s station on February 20, 2024, with fees totaling £693.30.
Akam Amin paid for a journey from Reading to Swindon and then tried to travel further to Chippenham on February 15, 2024. The 28-year-old, of Mill Lane in Sindlesham, must pay £68.70 in compensation and £556.70 altogether.
Ali Anwar, 25, of Mill Lane in Sindlesham, was also caught in Chippenham on February 15, 2024, and must pay £86.40 in compensation - £574.40 altogether.
Tom Andrews, 26, of Alton Road in Bournemouth, travelled through Trowbridge on April 3, 2024, without paying a fare of just £7.90, which he must pay back in compensation - £495.90 in total.
Khrystyna Broshchak, 20, of Guarte Place in Grays, travelled at Swindon’s train station without paying a fare of £84 on March 19, 2024, which she must pay back in compensation as part of penalties totaling £572.
Aaron Chilcott, 23, of Bythesea Road in Trowbridge, skipped a £3.30 fare at Trowbridge on March 19, 2024, and has to pay £491.30 in penalties and court costs.
A day earlier, Donna Connelly, of Radways Close, entered a train at Chippenham station without paying for a valid ticket.
The 57-year-old must now pay £123.60 in compensation, £611.60 altogether.
On February 16, 2024, Craig Da Silva, of Garth Road in Birmingham, travelled via Great Western Railway in Pewsey without paying a fare of £235.60, which he must now pay back as part of fees totalling £723.60.
An unpaid £5.80 ticket for travel at Westbury on March 18, 2024, has left 29-year-old Jordan Daffurn, of Bythesea Road in Trowbridge, having to pay fees of £493.80.
Zahira Menad, 31, of Brindham Lane in Wick, Glastonbury, must pay £697 altogether after travelling through Swindon on February 7, 2024, without paying the £209.30 fare.
Oliver Watts, 19, of Athelney Avenue in Westbury, travelled by train in Bradford-on-Avon on March 21, 2024, without paying the £12.50 ticket price and must now pay £500.50.
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