EXCLUSIVE Tense moment fare dodger is confronted by ticket inspectors after 'falling £1.30 short for his ticket'

Daily Mail​

21-06-2025

This is the tense moment a young fare dodger was confronted by rail ticket inspectors before trying to push past them while wrongly travelling on a child's ticket.
The passenger was caught at Weybridge station in Surrey using the ticket which gives a half-price discount on adult prices for children aged five to 15.
South Western Railway revenue protection inspectors intercepted him on the bridge over the platforms after an issue was flagged at the gates when he went through.
But when the team demanded that he show them his ticket, he refused to do so before trying to force his way pass them to walk down onto the platform.
Other officers stepped in to assist and try to block the passenger at the top of the stairs, as he brazenly told them: 'You can't actually physically touch me.'
But after a stand-off, the man eventually relented and showed them his child's ticket, claiming that he had bought it because he was £1.30 short of the adult fare.
Camera crews captured the moment he was stopped in the latest episode of Channel 5's Fare Evaders: At War With The Law which airs next Monday at 9pm.
The man was issued with an unpaid fare notice, which gives permission to travel and pay the fare within 21 days. If unpaid, passengers face the risk of prosecution.
The documentary revealed how the railway industry has noticed a rise in passengers aged over 15 trying to get away with using half-price child tickets.
In a clip shared exclusively with MailOnline, two South Western Railway inspectors called Sharon and Carlos confront a young man who refuses to show his ticket.
What are the rules on UK child rail tickets?
Children aged five to 15 get a 50 per cent discount against the adult price on most National Rail train tickets.
Children aged under five can travel for free, when with a fare-paying adult.
But anyone aged over 15 travelling on a child's ticket could receive a penalty fare if caught by an inspector.
Within the Transport for London (TfL) area, children can travel for free on most trains up to the age of ten when accompanied by an adult.
Those aged 11 to 15 can get 50 per cent off their journeys within the TfL area with a Zip Oyster photocard.
Carlos approaches the passenger after an issue was flagged at the ticket barriers, asking him: 'Have you got a child ticket? Can I have a look at your ticket?'
But the passenger replies: 'No.' Carlos then said: 'Can I see your ticket? You don't have a ticket?' And the man responds: 'No, I do.'
Sharon then stepped in, saying: 'Yeah we need to see it. Just needs to look at it.'
As tensions mount, the passenger says: 'You can't actually physically touch me'
Sharon says the inspectors are not touching him, and other officers step in to assist – telling each other to ensure their body-worn cameras are switched on.
One of the team tells him: 'You're not going down on the platform mate and you're not travelling. Why don't you just show us a ticket?'
The man responds: 'Because I don't need to.' But the inspector insists: 'Yes you do.'
The young man eventually gives in, admitting he does not have the correct ticket.
Sharon then tells the camera: 'It seems that the young lad was short of money. About £1.30 for an adult ticket, so he's purchased a child ticket, but he's over the age of 15.
'A colleague's been really fair with him. He's issued an unpaid fare notice, which is the lowest penalty we can give and it's just the price of the ticket that he should have bought.'
An unpaid fare notice gives permission to travel and pay the fare in 21 days. If unpaid, passengers face the risk of prosecution.
Another inspector says of his job: 'Sometimes we get bad language towards us, they will just push through and then we've got to stop them.
'We do get that level of abuse from them. And these are kids that are between 14 and 16 and they're effing and jeffing at us. And I'm like, well, hang on.'
He adds: 'You do get people who are unhappy about being spoken to. No one wants trouble. You hope that everyone is going to be nice, but not everyone is the same, are they? But then you get customers who do actually appreciate it as well.'
A further inspector then says: 'The gateliner was saying it's a huge deterrent us being here. He actually said 'SWR 1 Fare Evaders 0'.'
The clip features in episode six of the documentary, which also showed the moment an Elizabeth line fare dodger was caught in the act by ticket inspectors after evading £1,650 in ticket costs over nearly 250 journeys.
The passenger who regularly commuted from Harold Wood or Romford to Stratford was confronted with 35 pages of evidence dating back eight months.
A passenger is spoken to by investigators at London Waterloo station after only buying a ticket from Vauxhall, as he is finally caught after evading nearly £20,000 in ticket costs
One of his common methods while travelling through East London was to pay for a fare in Zones 2 to 3 only, rather than the full fare for his journey in Zones 2 to 6.
On the morning of the sting, the passenger was caught not touching in on the card
After being taken to a private room for questioning, the man eventually hands over the Oyster card and is told he could be taken to court for the offences.
The man was then allowed to go on his way but told he would continue to be tracked on the Oyster card – and the case was passed to TfL's prosecution team.
MailOnline has already covered a series of incidents featured in the documentary, which comes after Robert Jenrick highlighted fare dodging at Stratford last month.
The shadow justice secretary posted a video on social media in which he confronted people who forced their way through the ticket barriers at the station.
Separately, a report released on June 4 found fare evasion is becoming 'normalised', with train staff telling the inquiry that they are struggling to cope with 'aggressive' passengers who refuse to buy tickets.
Travellers are using 'a range of techniques to persistently' underpay or avoid paying and see it as a 'victimless crime', according to the Office of Road and Rail (ORR).
Meanwhile TikTok influencers are brazenly showing Tube passengers how to illegally travel for free by 'bumping' through the station ticket barriers .
Fare Dodgers: At War With The Law is on Channel 5 on Monday, June 23 at 9pm