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A serial fare evader who took 112 free journeys is hit with a massive fine and a suspended sentence, exposing the high cost of "brazen" entitlement on UK railways.

The era of the "brazen" fare dodger is facing a judicial reckoning. Charles Brohiri, a 29-year-old man who treated the Govia Thameslink Railway as a free service, has been handed a three-month suspended prison sentence and a financial penalty that would buy a first-class season ticket for a decade.
Brohiri’s audacity was staggering. Over nearly two years, he took 112 journeys without paying a penny, racking up unpaid fares of over £3,000. His method was not sophisticated; it was simply a refusal to participate in the social contract of public transport. At Westminster Magistrates' Court, District Judge Nina Tempia stripped away the defense of "habit," describing his behavior as a display of "self-entitlement" and a belief that he was "invincible."
The case of Charles Brohiri is a microcosm of a wider battle on Britain’s railways. With ticket prices soaring and service quality often criticized, fare evasion has shifted from a minor infraction to a systemic drain. However, the scale of Brohiri's evasion—continuing even after he was banned from Thameslink stations—pushed the court beyond a simple fine.
The prosecution revealed that Brohiri committed further offenses even while on bail, a detail that clearly tested the judge's patience. "Deliberate and repeated" was the verdict. The £3,600 fine (covering compensation and costs) is a warning shot to the thousands of commuters who chance the barrier jump every morning.
Brohiri walked free from court, but his "invincibility" is shattered. The message from the magistrate is clear: the railway is not a charity, and the turnstile is not a suggestion.
For the honest commuter, standing in a cramped vestibule after paying an extortionate fare, there is a grim satisfaction in seeing the free-rider finally pay the bill.
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