Arrest warrants issued for tram fare dodgers

WARRANTS have been issued for the arrest of 12 prolific Metrolink fare dodgers — four from Oldham — who owe more than £30,000 in fines between them.

Further fines were also imposed on the 12 by Bury magistrates.

The court dealt with 15 cases of the worst offenders for fare evasion on the network, who had failed to pay outstanding court fines for previous offences.

The court ruled that arrest warrants be issued to 12 of them and further fines of £4,545 were imposed.

Spencer Morris, from Shaw, owes £1,260 in outstanding court fines for five offences of fare evasion.

Athaniel Lucas, from Oldham, owes £630 in fines for 12 offences.

Ethan Lucas, from Oldham, owes £2,305 for 15 offences.

Dean Wild, from Oldham, owes £1,633 for 26 offences.

It is the second time Metrolink’s operator, RATP Dev, has decided to hold a specific court date for the worst offenders for fare evasion in addition to the regular court hearings that take place.

In December, 2013, magistrates heard 20 cases of people who had failed to pay outstanding fines of more than £16,000. For 13 of the 20, the court issued warrants for their arrest. It also comes on the back of the introduction of a youth court at Bury magistrates court, where five people, under the age of 18, attend for repeat offences of fare evasion on Metrolink. The teenagers had more than 20 offences between them and were ordered to pay back nearly £1,000 in fines.

Fare evasion among under-18s account for 15 per cent of total on Metrolink and of that amount, more than 75 per cent is among the 16-17 age group.

Metrolink says work is continuing in engaging with schools across Greater Manchester to address fare evasion among young people and already there has been a fall.

Chris Coleman, managing director at RATP Dev in Manchester, said: “Revenue generated from ticket sales goes back into running the system so our efforts are focused on creating an effective deterrent to travelling without a ticket.

“It’s not a decision we take lightly to take someone to court but all offenders are given ample opportunity to pay the standard fare charge of £100, if found to be without a valid Metrolink ticket, so going court really is a last resort for us.

“This is the second time we’ve decided to bring the worst cases of fare evasion to court but what is encouraging to see is that only one individual had previously attended the hearing back in December, 2013.

“This shows that the message is getting through to our repeat offenders of how seriously we take fare evasion and the consequences of failing to buy a Metrolink ticket.

“The message is a simple one; buy a ticket before you board a Metrolink tram.”