From
the guardian:
A commuter's story: 'My single moment of madness that cost me my job'
It's an offence to travel without a valid rail ticket. But for one commuter the price of a one-off incident proved very high
It was a moment of madness she puts down to a sleepless night and a stressful journey to work. But jumping on a train without a ticket because of a queue at the machine ^ compounded by giving a false address to the ticket inspector ^ has left Lorna Dixon* with a criminal record and out of work after a job offer was withdrawn.
The 58-year-old, the sole wage earner in her family, is "unemployed and possibly unemployable" after being prosecuted and fined ^400 over the one-off incident on a Leeds to Sheffield train, which, she says, effectively involved a shortfall of 40p. She is the first to admit she was at fault, but argues "the penalty seems way out of proportion".
Her case contrasts with that of the mystery City worker who was alleged to have dodged five years' worth of fares to London, but avoided prosecution after making an out-of-court settlement with rail company Southeastern. The man in that case, which emerged last month, kept his anonymity, and therefore his job, after offering to repay ^43,000.
Dixon wishes she could "turn the clock back" and re-run the couple of fateful minutes that had such calamitous consequences. On 9 October last year she was travelling ^ as she did two or three times a week ^ from the village north of Leeds where she lives to Sheffield, where she was working in the public sector.
This "absolutely horrendous" commute involves catching a train from her small local station to Leeds, where she then has four minutes to run up and down escalators and across a bridge to platform 11, where the 8.11am CrossCountry train to Sheffield departs. Her trips were on an ad hoc basis and paid for by her employer, so she tended to buy tickets on the day. Her unmanned village station has one ticket machine, and it is not always possible to buy a ticket before the train arrives, she says.
That morning there was a queue, so she boarded her train without a ticket. She says there is always a conductor on board, but that morning it was particularly sardine-like, and he or she was probably unable to make their way down. She then did her four-minute dash to catch the Sheffield train (if she has to catch the next one, she gets into work an hour later), so "the first time I had an opportunity to buy a ticket that morning was on the 8.11 to Sheffield".
This has happened before, but that day, "for some silly reason", she asked for a return from Leeds to Sheffield rather than from her village station to Sheffield. "I don't know why ... I can only put it down to momentary confusion because I had got on at Leeds, the stress from the running and standing, and some personal issues," she says. When challenged about how she had got on at Leeds without a ticket, Dixon says she became embarrassed and replied that she had walked through.
She adds: "Part of my brain was telling me this was only making my current situation worse, but out of panic I could only think I needed to stick to the same story, which is why I gave a made-up address when asked ^ I felt I had to protect my identity. Again, this was out of sheer embarrassment and momentary incapacity to think logically. My expenses are paid, so I have no reason to deliberately ask for the wrong fare. I had not slept all night, was tired, stressed and suffering from anxiety."
Dixon says that "as soon as I came to my senses", she went to find the inspector "and apologised straight away for wasting her time". She gave the correct information about her journey and said she would pay for her ticket, plus any on-the-spot fine they wished to impose. Dixon says she was interviewed under caution and told she would receive a letter in due course.
Following correspondence between her and Transport Investigations Ltd, a private firm that deals with penalties on behalf of several train companies, she was told she would be prosecuted. Her case was heard by Sheffield magistrates on 28 March.
Dixon did not attend but pleaded guilty "because I thought this was the right thing to do, as I had admitted asking for the wrong fare; also, I don't think I would have coped well with the experience". She was fined ^400, and now has a criminal record. "I didn't think it through, I guess. I probably should have contacted a solicitor," she says.
Following the incident, she quit her job because, she says, "train travel has become intolerable and causes me massive stress". She was subsequently offered, and accepted, a job nearer to home, but this was withdrawn after a criminal record check was carried out.
"My actions were wrong, and I admitted that, but no one from the railways or even the magistrate seems to have asked 'if there was no financial gain, and so much for them to lose, why would they do this?'" They might then have concluded, she says, "it was a moment of insanity ^ a bad day like we all have ^ and have a more humane approach".
CrossCountry said it did not comment on individual cases but added that it would only prosecute "if there has been a clear attempt to avoid paying the correct fare and there is a realistic possibility of conviction. However, if it appears an incident is the result of an honest mistake or misunderstanding, we will consider allowing the individual to settle without taking legal action".
* Not her real name
