A RAIL ticket fraudster who cheated York-based rail company LNER out of thousands of pounds has been jailed.
Paul James King, 35, bought tickets under someone else’s name and cancelled them getting refunds to his own bank account, said Nicola Hoskins, prosecuting, at York Crown Court.
He then supplied them onto other people who used them for journeys.
When he was brought before the courts, he forged a hospital letter in a bid to deceive the Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris, about his health.
Gas company employee King, of Brown Hill Terrace, Harehills,
Leeds, pleaded guilty to using false instruments for fraud and perverting the course of justice.
Judge Simon Hickey said: “For defrauding a company such as LNER, there has to be an element of deterrent to deter people from defrauding the company in that way.”
About the letter, he said: “It is planned and calculated to try and deceive a crown court judge.”
When he was jailed for 22 months, King called out: “I’m going to lose my house, I’m not going, I’m not going.”
Then he sat down in the dock and refused to move. He changed his mind after the defence barrister Ismael Uddin had a word with him.
Ms Hoskins said a LNER fraud officer started investigating King’s purchases when they noticed he was getting a lot of tickets refunded. These tickets were then being scanned at ticket gates or on trains.
In total King bought tickets worth £4,468 between November 2021 and May 2022 and got refunds worth £4,242. But £3,246 worth of the tickets were then used for travel and scanned, although they had been cancelled.
Police raided his home and King was arrested.
He said often when a ticket was refused at a ticket gate, railway staff on duty assumed the machine, rather than the ticket, was at fault and let the passenger through.
After he pleaded guilty to the fraud offence, a probation officer was concerned that he would not be fit for unpaid work.
So King tampered with a genuine letter from Leeds General Infirmary to make it say he was fit enough to do unpaid work and forwarded it to his solicitors, who forwarded it to the court, said Ms Hoskins.
He was to be sentenced by Judge Morris, but when the judge saw the letter, he was suspicious, asked police to investigate and King was charged with the offence of perverting the course of justice.
Judge Hickey said if King had been unfit to do unpaid work it would have limited the judge's sentencing options.
Mr Uddin said King was the sole breadwinner for his family as his wife didn’t work. He had also been served with an official notice to leave his rented accommodation, though he had not provided his lawyers with any documents about this.
King told his lawyers he was awaiting surgery having suffered a brain injury when he was assaulted some years ago.
Unpaid work is often imposed as a condition on a suspended prison sentence or as part of a community order.
