AIBU to be pleased that the fare dodger has been named

[northlight]

I cheered when I read this.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/aug/02/millionaire-city-executive-dodged-43000-rail-fares-unmasked

Come off it! It wasn't an offer made by the train company or else the offer would have been for all. An offer is when they tell you to get a family railcard to work it out cheaper etc. not fare dodging.

Well what would you call it then Lady?

Is there a better way to put it?

I imagine what happened is that he was caught and was threatened with police/prosecution... however he probably suggested paying what he owed and so Southeastern made him an 'offer' of repaying the £40,000 in full and immediately in return for not involving police.

I do know it's not the same sort of 'offer' as a family railcard

I think if this was a one off I wouldn't feel so sure he should suffer consequences. It was sustained and deliberate.

Train company said it's their policy to seek full repayment as the first option before prosecution. Probably cheaper and easier for them.

He's an idiot for doing this and has lost an awful lot as a result. I don't feel sorry for him, but I don't think it's right to be subject to basically an online hate campaign.

Nutcrackerfairy

After 20 mins of arguing and realising they are getting nowhere they suddenly remember they have a £20 note or a debit card to pay on

For genuine people we have a permission to travel form where we take name/address of drivers license etc then they pay at a later date, if people are genuine they are happy to do this, if they are not they kick off about this as well, we do give people options, and if people appear vulnerable (last train at night, tourist, young etc) , we let them travel for free and call the destination station and let them know they are coming, we are not heartless bastards!

Honestly, I'd say people were genuine 1 time out of every 20.

Agree Bourdic

I think being a risk-taker/arrogant bastard is a prerequisite of some City jobs

Expat your ex boyfriend is probably still the good, kind and bright man you once knew. People are multi-faceted. None of us are all good or all bad. And it was fare dodging, not something to be proud of I accept, but he's not turned out to be a psychopathic serial killer!

Well not so far as we know but maybe he paid somebody off

He's a City financial person. He's (handsomely) paid to find financially advantageous loopholes in any situation. If he'd been honest (and frankly, who wants to trust their money to someone whose only moral compass is the pursuit of profit?) he would have put his skill to the common good and pointed out the loophole to the railway company, rather than exploited it.

And again. People think this is a victimless crime, but it's not. If your non-fare paying bum is on a seat which could be occupied by someone who's paid their fare, then you are denting the company's income and making prices more expensive for everyone else. That's the morality of it- the contributing to paying for the infrastructure. This guy I suspect understands economics and was doing it because he could and that's his training. Others might fare dodge because they think the company ought to focus more on fare-collection (which arguably it should) and will get away with it if they can. Others fare dodge as way of playing the system. In most cases it comes from a lack of understanding of how infrastructure like trains and train lines are funded- ie by the paying public.

The people who annoy me the most are the people who are evidently fare-dodging but pay up without complaint if asked for their ticket by a guard. They annoy me because there are probably 1000s of them, and they are neither fish now fowl. Not really honest but not truly dishonest either.

I have not seen or spoken to the guy in question in over 20 years. But I find the suggestion, even if it was made in humour, that he could have hurt someone physically very distasteful.

However I knew him very well for a long time. He was an important part of my life back then and he was incredibly straight, honest, kind and generous. He did not have things handed to him on a plate and if his work ethic back then was a thing to go by I am sure he has worked incredibly hard to build the career he had.

I think losing his career and the public humiliation are in my opinion punishment enough. If indeed the allegations are true.

But then I can recognize that I would be biased.

I

I don't think they are 'allegations' Expat, I believe he admitted it.

It must be a bit of a shocker for you though to realise that someone you considered to be an honest individual isn't and consistently broke the law. .

Expat I am sorry my analogy offended you.

I was merely trying to point out that he could still be a good and kind person and that he hadn't been accused of something which meant he was unredeemable as a human being.

i feel sorry for his wife and children. assuming he had wife and children. and i bet his children go to some private school. oh the shame.

I feel sorry for kids at the local comp who have a father in prison. Do those kids not get sympathy or does it all only if they are at private schools.

It's grim for all children when their parents let them down. Being privileged does not mean more hurt.

It certainly does not mean letting privileged kids fathers off a crime because of the consequence to their children....same as it doesn't for any parent

Oh don't be so po-faced Expat. You know exactly the point I as making - wealthy and/ or privileged people 'buy' their way out of trouble over and over again and it's only recently that we are getting to be more aware of this. The 'justice' system in this country works in favour of the educated/ well-connected /better off. I work in a particular jurisdiction where we are frequently told about people's impeccable pasts when we are judging recent beviour. I couldn't give a flying fig about your ex- friends past behaviour when you knew him or even if he'd dragged himself out of the gutter to make it. All I know is that now he's a cheating, selfish entitled git who the system treated initially very unfairly by letting him pay up

And instead if you defending him Expat wouldn't it be great if he actually said something on his own behalf?

Yes, Bourdic

Hear hear, Bourdic

I am glad he's been named. I can't stand fare dodgers, especially if they can afford to pay. And he clearly could!

I once saw someone on a bus without a ticket. Man was well dressed, briefcase but only had a train ticket and not a travelcard. He explained in his posh voice that he rarely comes to london and had asked the guard at the station to sell him a travelcard.

He says he's getting off at x stop. Conductor let him off and just said make sure to check you have the right ticket.

Conductor gets off. Man stats on and goes past x stop. Gets off at my stop and enters the Government Department I work for through the staff entrance and with a staff pass. So not a rare traveller to London after all

I mentioned on MN if I should report as we all deal with money/ contacts etc. the consensus was he had 12 starving kids at home, I couldn't be sure he had a staff pass ( I can) and that I should mind my own business!

I'm glad the consensus is different on this thread!

Anne I am curious, who would you report this to who would actually give a shit

Perhaps the man you saw normally has a chauffeur and this was his one and only journey on a London bus?

I know I have no morals but I am astonished at how many posters are so incensed by the perceived [or actual] fare dodging perpetrated by their fellow travellers.

I usually have my head buried in a good book and unless someone was creating a rather loud disturbance I wouldn't really notice [or care] what the hell anyone else was doing.