A prolific fare dodger from Hertfordshire has been warned he could be sent to prison if he does not pay the fine he was issued when he was handed a suspended jail sentence earlier this year.
Charles Brohiri, 29, has more than 100 convictions for not paying for train tickets, and did not pay fares valued at more than £3,000 for Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) train journeys between February 2024 and November last year.
Brohiri, originally from Hatfield in Hertfordshire, but who has been homeless for years, was given a three-month prison sentence, suspended for a year, in February, but was back at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday for an assessment of his means to pay the £3,629.60 he was ordered to then, among other fines.
District Judge Nina Tempia told Brohiri, who was unrepresented: “If you haven’t paid anything then you can go to prison as I warned you last time. Do you understand that?”
Brohiri confirmed he did, and admitted he had not yet paid any of the fines or compensation he owed “as of yet”.
Asked why, Brohiri told the judge his referral from probation to help him receive benefits had been “a bit slow”, but he insisted he would begin paying £5 a week.
Judge Tempia told Brohiri the consolidated amount he owes, in compensation, fines and “maybe victim surcharges”, is £34,486.
She ordered Brohiri to begin paying £5 a week from July 31, and adjourned his means inquiry until August 27.
“£20 should have been paid when you come back on August 27,” Judge Tempia said.
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