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Pinstripped fraudster 'seduced by first-class rail travel'
Ben Bailey21 Jul 2009
A pinstriped teenager "seduced" by first-class rail travel, who fraudulently spent nearly £20,000 on train fares in just two months, was spared jail today.
Liam Traynor, 19, would turn up smartly-dressed to lend himself an air of respectability as he journeyed around the country.
But he was paying for the trips using an empty debit account or by fooling conductors using £50 gift cards to pay for tickets that cost much more.
The values of the fraudulent purchases, which also included the use of dud cheques to pay for more than £80 of on-board refreshments, ranged between £1 and £1,438, the Old Bailey heard.
Unemployed Traynor, now 20, of Westgreen Road, Tottenham, north London, admitted three counts of fraud by deception totalling £19,864.10.
The crimes were committed between April and June this year and included several journeys between London's King's Cross station and Leeds as well as a trip as far afield as Fort William in Scotland.
Traynor also admitted the theft of a wallet that had been dropped by a train driver which came to light when he was found with the driver's pass.
Judge Peter Thornton handed him an eight-month sentence of detention suspended for 18 months, together with a supervision order and 200 hours' unpaid work.
He also ordered Traynor, originally from Durham, to pay back nearly £6,000 to Virgin Railways and £14,000 to Lloyds TSB for the debit card fraud, using a £30,000 premium bond trust due to mature on his 21st birthday.
The judge said: "These are serious offences. They are also sophisticated in the methods adopted, which you adapted to make the maximum success of them.
"There are elements of the typical criminal fraudster about you. You are apparently amiable, charming and articulate.
"You wore a suit when you committed these offences, even though you are not working, to give you credibility."
There were multiple offences but the crimes were "unusual" said the judge, as Traynor was just committing them to "get free rides".
Dominic Thomas, defending, said: "The defendant appears to have been entirely seduced for a two-month period by the comfort and tranquility, as he saw it, and the adventure of first-class rail travel.
"He didn't have the means to support what he was doing. He was really in a world of his own when all of this was taking place."
Mr Thomas said Traynor was "someone with a slightly obsessional frame of mind" who had since his arrest become "very very interested in the world of the law".
He said his client, who wore a pin-striped three-piece suit with bright blue waistcoat and matching tie to court, had become "fascinated" by the Old Bailey and had taken the barrister on a tour around the building earlier today.
Reader views (5)
I once saw a Virgin train leave York. and all the first class seats were taken. Wonder how the passengers could afford to pay for them?
- Mar, Venice, Italy, 21/07/2009 22:36
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Good Lord, whilst First is better than cattle class, it's still a train and I don't think anyone could describe travelling on British railways as a pleasant experience, I'd be inclined to send him for a psychiatric examination.
- Bob, Cheam, 21/07/2009 17:07
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You see the fact is the British are naturally given to criminality. We have a far larger proportion of our population in prison than our European neighbours, more CCTV cameras than you can shake a stick at and a nasty loutish atmosphere on our streets. But I always marvel at the few criminals that bring that spark of ingenuity to their crimes, that I don't know what but querky, stylish, loudicrously pointless crime that just makes you smile and think well done you. This lad is the new Stephen Fry. Mark my words. He is Bertie in the making.
- Prototypical Englishman, Wormwood Scrubs, 21/07/2009 16:48
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This eagerness to medically classify and medicate - disturbing.
Restitution to be paid, not really jail time worthy (and as these comment areas can attest I'm pretty tough on crime), and we'll give the kid a chance to learn the lesson.
- Trunk, US, 21/07/2009 16:10
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It sounds as though he should have have been the subject of medical reports.
- Paul, Rochester UK, 21/07/2009 14:51
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