• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Russell Brand confesses to being a fare evader

Status
Not open for further replies.

bicbasher

Established Member
Joined
14 May 2010
Messages
1,748
Location
London
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Merseysider

Established Member
Fares Advisor
Joined
22 Jan 2014
Messages
5,389
Location
Birmingham
Some people who can afford anything they want, avoid paying purely for the rush/thrill of it (see Lindsay Lohan and that jewellers she stole from). I imagine Russell isn't concerned about the penalty if he were caught because it's pennies to him. Can't say he's setting a good example for his young fans by saying that in an interview though.
 

andykn

Member
Joined
5 Feb 2012
Messages
230
Some people who can afford anything they want, avoid paying purely for the rush/thrill of it (see Lindsay Lohan and that jewellers she stole from). I imagine Russell isn't concerned about the penalty if he were caught because it's pennies to him. Can't say he's setting a good example for his young fans by saying that in an interview though.

Wouldn't a more serious conviction hinder him travelling to the US?
 

yorkie

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Administrator
Joined
6 Jun 2005
Messages
67,438
Location
Yorkshire
He's an anarchist isn't he? It's not really news. He's bonkers and obnoxious anyway.
 

Merseysider

Established Member
Fares Advisor
Joined
22 Jan 2014
Messages
5,389
Location
Birmingham
Wouldn't a more serious conviction hinder him travelling to the US?

You are entirely correct. Russell Brand has already been refused entry to Japan and Canada, amongst other countries, following his arrest for assault some time ago. (I think it was LA in 2011, not sure though). I love his stand up comedy but I personally think it's idiotic to risk such serious sanctions for the sake of a few pounds, but then again, I can't read the mind of an ex-addict millionaire.
 

tony6499

Member
Joined
27 Sep 2012
Messages
884
What he says and what he really did I expect are 2 completely different things
 

455driver

Veteran Member
Joined
10 May 2010
Messages
11,332
He's an anarchist isn't he? It's not really news. He's bonkers and obnoxious anyway.

No he is a <deleted> desperate to be 'in the news', he will say or do anything to be on the front pages.
He is the sort of person I would never get fed up with smacking in the face with a length of 2x4! ;)

Of course now some of his so called 'fans' will do the same thing thinking its cooool innit before finding out how serious fare evasion can be.
 
Last edited:

Andrewlong

Member
Joined
2 Jan 2013
Messages
373
Location
Earley
The comedian Russell Brand admitted in an interview that he still occasionally evades paying the fare between Liverpool Street and Chelmsford.



http://www.standard.co.uk/news/celebritynews/russell-brand-i-sometimes-bunk-the-train-9270874.html

We have enough problems with fare evasion in this country and then along comes Russell Brand to give it a big thumbs up. I know he is a bit anarchic but like it or not he is a role model and this gives out the wrong messages.
 

Temple Meads

Established Member
Joined
2 Sep 2010
Messages
2,230
Location
Devon
I don't mind him and his comedy (unlike a lot of people!), but saying things like this is frankly idiotic to be honest...
 

Fare-Cop

Member
Joined
5 Aug 2010
Messages
950
Location
England
Perhaps Russel Brand should read the story of Dr Cyril Edwin Mitchinson Joad, one of the foremost 'celebrities' of his time during the 1930's & 40's and mainstay of the BBC radio Brain's Trust.

Dr Joad was an habitual and compulsive fare evader, it cost him a conviction, which cost him his job, status and ultimately his health, which may well have contributed to his early demise.

Of course we don't have the same standards today, I guess Brand's activity will enhance rather than diminish his appeal in many quarters.

Sad innit??
 
Last edited:

edwin_m

Veteran Member
Joined
21 Apr 2013
Messages
24,793
Location
Nottingham
I somehow think the sad tale of Dr Joad will have little effect on the likes of Russell Brand.
 

DaveNewcastle

Established Member
Joined
21 Dec 2007
Messages
7,387
Location
Newcastle (unless I'm out)
I somehow think the sad tale of Dr Joad will have little effect on the likes of Russell Brand.
And, somehow, I think any tale about Russell Brand will have little effect on me, nor on the people whose company I keep. He is not a person in my life.

As illustrated by "Clockwork Orange" and other thought experiments, the maintenance of law requires the ability of people through their free will to be able to choose to violate the law, and also the ability of others to observe those violations and the consequences. So I would feel more comfortable if a self-promoting fare-evader was visibly captured and prosecuted, just as he has been visibly boasting his fare evasion.
 

Flamingo

Established Member
Joined
26 Apr 2010
Messages
6,810
Well, every staff member who see's him on a train now will be going out of their way to check him...
 

bicbasher

Established Member
Joined
14 May 2010
Messages
1,748
Location
London
Hopefully GA's RPI's will have a field day with him the next time he tries it on.

However, I suspect it's similar to the story about the Stonegate fare evader who decided to settle out of court for reasons which only high earners can understand.
 

tunster

Member
Joined
7 Feb 2012
Messages
39
Well, every staff member who see's him on a train now will be going out of their way to check him...
Regular commuters will be on the hunt out for him now for certain. However, why would he ever need to go to Chelmsford? To be honest, he probably got away with it in an evening/night at weekends when both Chelmsford and Liverpool St have their gates fully open. I've never seen anyone dodge the barriers on the LST/CHM route ever during peak.

Although this is a null point in the context of the story; the ticket machines are poor and sluggish to use in most instances I've used them. Maybe Abellio should address the ticketing issues in a positive light against this story. I'd say the couple of things I've mentioned would make fare dodging pretty tempting if you're in Russell Brands frame of mind.
 

bicbasher

Established Member
Joined
14 May 2010
Messages
1,748
Location
London
Slightly more detail from the Chelmsford Weekly News.

http://www.chelmsfordweeklynews.co....laims_he__dodged_Essex_train_fare_/?ref=var_0

Grays comic Russel Brand claims he "dodged Essex train fare"

SOUTH Essex comedian Russell Brand has reportedly admitted dodging a train fare in the county after he "couldn't be bothered" to pay.

Brand, 38, who has been entertaining fans at the Cliffs Pavillion, Southend, told the Daily Mirror he had tailagted someone through a barrier on Wednesday.

The controversial funnyman, who has appeared in a number of Holywood movies, said: "From someone that’s gone from no wealth to wealth, I know that money doesn’t make me happier.

"Like I jumped the train yesterday when I had to go to Chelmsford.

"I could have got a ticket but I couldn’t be bothered with the rigmarole of getting one.

"I realised all I had to do was get over a barrier so I did that and then slid out the other end behind someone.”

Fare dodgers on the Greater Anglia route from London Liverpool Street could face fines of up to £60 and possible prosecution.
 

swj99

Member
Joined
7 Nov 2011
Messages
765
"I could have got a ticket but I couldn’t be bothered with the rigmarole of getting one.
If people consider getting a ticket to be 'rigmarole', then perhaps getting a ticket needs to be made easier so that more people will get one. (I think I've got one somewhere).

It could be said that he's performing a useful public service, which is to illustrate that if TOCs want people to pay train fares, they need to facilitate this.
 

jon0844

Veteran Member
Joined
1 Feb 2009
Messages
28,013
Location
UK
If I couldn't buy a ticket I'd be saying sod it and take the car instead, not jump a barrier. Must remember to change this view next time I'm not happy with the time taken to get served in a shop. Don't dump the goods and walk out, just nick it. Too long to get the bill in a restaurant? Just leave. Sorted.
 

tunster

Member
Joined
7 Feb 2012
Messages
39
Why on earth would regular 'commuters' be on the hunt for him?
I'll backtrack that comment after reading a bit more on the story where this was a bit more of a single occurrence related to a specific set of gigs in Southend (although going to Chelmsford first is odd) rather than repeated (which I thought it was). I guess I meant anyone seeing him on public transport will challenge him. Damn right too.
 

jon0844

Veteran Member
Joined
1 Feb 2009
Messages
28,013
Location
UK
He could also be making the whole thing up as a dig at the privatised railway.
 

SS4

Established Member
Joined
30 Jan 2011
Messages
8,589
Location
Birmingham
To get publicity you either need to commit an offence against an unpopular law (ie speeding) or shag someone and he's already tried the latter. For my part I think it's useless posturing but my opinion of him was rather clouded by the Andrew Sachs incident
 

tbtc

Veteran Member
Joined
16 Dec 2008
Messages
17,882
Location
Reston City Centre
For my part I think it's useless posturing

That's brand all over :lol:

The frustrating thing, for me, is that way that (whilst people are keen to blur the distinctions between "tax avoidance"/ "tax evasion" / "fraud"), not having a valid railway ticket (call it "avoiding"/ "evading" / "trying it on" etc) is becoming seen as a "victimless crime" nowadays.

Look at the comments on newspaper websites/ Facebook threads/ Twitter about the "£43,000" case - people were talking about this Hedge Fund guy as a "modern Robin Hood" (which kind of misses the point about "giving to the poor" of course) - ticketless travel is becoming seen more and more as a victimless crimes - where there's no need to buy a ticket unless you are forced to.

Many of the people caught (in the "Disputes" threads) seem to be of the opinion that offering to purchase a ticket retrospectively means that there's no "crime" - and that its unfair to impose a higher cost/penalty than just the price of the cheapest ticket that could have been bought prior to the journey.

I'd be interested in the opinions of Flamingo etc as to whether they've noticed a difference at the coal face (or its just my opinion), but I get the impression that public perception has changed in the past few years, and its fair game to try to get away without purchasing in advance.

(as for Brand, he's amusing enough, diverting without offering any real alternative - good at what he does, but frustratingly lightweight)
 

aleph_0

Member
Joined
15 Sep 2010
Messages
171
Hypothetically speaking, assuming Brand is telling the truth, would GA be able to gather enough evidence to prosecute. He seems to have admitted to misusing the barriers, would this be captured on CCTV?

I realise that searching a whole day's footage might be a bit difficult, but if they searched twitter, they might find members of the public tweeting about seeing brand in London/at the station/on the train on Wednesday, which should narrow down the timeframe considerably.
 

bb21

Emeritus Moderator
Joined
4 Feb 2010
Messages
24,151
Not worth the effort.

They can just simply keep an eye out for him in the future. A leopard and all that.
 

Flamingo

Established Member
Joined
26 Apr 2010
Messages
6,810
That's brand all over :lol:

The frustrating thing, for me, is that way that (whilst people are keen to blur the distinctions between "tax avoidance"/ "tax evasion" / "fraud"), not having a valid railway ticket (call it "avoiding"/ "evading" / "trying it on" etc) is becoming seen as a "victimless crime" nowadays.

Look at the comments on newspaper websites/ Facebook threads/ Twitter about the "£43,000" case - people were talking about this Hedge Fund guy as a "modern Robin Hood" (which kind of misses the point about "giving to the poor" of course) - ticketless travel is becoming seen more and more as a victimless crimes - where there's no need to buy a ticket unless you are forced to.

Many of the people caught (in the "Disputes" threads) seem to be of the opinion that offering to purchase a ticket retrospectively means that there's no "crime" - and that its unfair to impose a higher cost/penalty than just the price of the cheapest ticket that could have been bought prior to the journey.

I'd be interested in the opinions of Flamingo etc as to whether they've noticed a difference at the coal face (or its just my opinion), but I get the impression that public perception has changed in the past few years, and its fair game to try to get away without purchasing in advance.

(as for Brand, he's amusing enough, diverting without offering any real alternative - good at what he does, but frustratingly lightweight)


I would say that the difference would come in how difficult it is to get on a train without a ticket, full stop. If there are ticket barriers in operation, then tickets get bought, as there is no alternative. If there are no ticket barriers in operation (regardless of buying facilities), tickets as a rule don't get bought, unless the destination station is known to have barriers.

Although I work trains in Penalty Fare areas (Bristol and London) the almost total absence of enforcement of the PF'as as far as I experience means that they are in no way a deterrent.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top