So an over-zealous "gripper" is good then?
An example of a "extremely-desparate" gripper wasting time (so not checking everyone on the train).
A person shows an in-date (even with boxes filled in!) "CST PKS 4-8 RVR" to Mr. John Lee, a notoriously desparate Manchester (XC) man, the rover happened to be purchased at Plymouth (though the issued at place is insignificant on a rover). However, this guard, immediately checks us as we leave Piccadilly, and says "Plymouth Coast and Peaks, not valid in Manchester I dont think." We try to explain that a Coast & Peaks is valid as far as Stafford, from Manchester, but he says "this is obviously valid in the South West!" He ends up ringing retail control, who appear to tell him he was clearly wrong. This "wasted time" took us from near Longsight to Stockport (where he unlocked the doors), then from Stockport to about Poynton- all that for a perfectly valid ticket! Any normal guard, (or gripper!) could have easily completed to whole train by that time, without endangering anybodies life!
Another experience I've had with a guard who would be more suited as members of the Gestapo, was with Gordon Jones (who was nick-named Adolf Hitler), another notorious Virgin guard, from Liverpool. He has thankfully now retired, but he was infamous. This situation was nothing to do with ticketing, but was with "heads out". Me and a friend were on a 87+57 drag to Liveeerpoool from Crewe when he came down and told us to sit down (we weren't actually doing HO at the time, just standing in the vestibule), but another guy had his video-camera in a sort of frame set up to film out of the window, and Jones told him to remove it and he does so. However he then puts it back up. I assume old' Adolf comes down and tells him to take it down. This is now the embarrassing bit. He walks down the very empty train, and "cordons off" the front bit of the train, which contained me, my friend, and this other guy. He then gets on his mobile, and calls the police(!) At Lime Street four policemen were waiting for us off the train, (and annoyingly I miss my opportunity to phot 87004 with a Dellner-less 57) They take us into the station, take our details, and tell us we've been accused of spying for the photographer (!) so he could take his stuff down if he came down(!) This was utter rubbish, and the police man who questioned me said as much. He said that they have in the past considered charging him with wasting police time, as once he called the police for a person whose ticket was a whole 5p too cheap(!) We were of course let off straight away, and they appologied for the inconvinience. This is a classic example of a desparate guard who could cause more trouble by being over-zealous. Surely those four police-men could have been sorting out real crime rather than sorting out a situation that was really petty. This seems to be the opposite to your comment Jamie.
If only GNER did that...! 
