Off the rails: Thatcham trio caught dodging train fares

Three must pay more than £1,200 between them for cheating over a few pounds

THREE Thatcham men who tried to dodge their rail fare got caught... and each was landed with a bill for more than £400 as a result.

They are 34-year-old Daniel Alexander Mehta of Maynard Close, Adrian Lewis, aged 53, of Rotary Way, and 40-year-old Joseph McCaffery, of Stirling Way.

All three had been due to appear at Reading Magistrates’ Court on Friday.

But none of them turned up and the case against each was found proved in their absence.

Mr Mehta was convicted of travelling on a Great Western Railway (GWR) train at Reading on November 7 last year without paying the £6.40 fare and with the intention of avoiding that payment.

Mr Lewis was convicted of committing the same offence on a GWR train at Twyford on March 6 involving a £3.90 fare and Mr McCaffery was convicted of the committing the same offence on a GWR train at Reading on March 7 involving a £6.40 fare.

Magistrates fined each man £220.

In addition, they were each ordered to pay £160 costs, plus a statutory victim services surcharge of £30.

Finally, the three were each ordered to compensate GWR to the value of the ticket they tried to avoid paying.