SEVEN people were handed big fines in Swindon's courts after breaking the law on the railway.

And one of them was ordered to pay 96 times the cost of the ticket he failed to buy.

Defendants appeared before magistrates last week to face charges including travelling on the railway without paying a fare, giving a false address to an officer of a railway company and failing to produce a ticket on request.

One defendant stayed on the train past their destination and then failed to pay another train fare.

Stations across the UK warn passengers about the consequences of not paying the correct train fare and travelling without a ticket.

Below are the defendants who appeared in Swindon Magistrates' Court for dodging rail fares.

Catalin Alexandru Ioja of High Street, Portishead, was slapped with a fine of a £440 for knowingly and wilfully proceeding by train beyond the distance paid for and without previously paying the additional fare for the additional distance.

The defendant was caught at Swindon station on September 25, 2021.

Ioja, 25, was ordered to pay compensation of £106.60 and was further instructed to pay £44 as a victim surcharge and costs of £180.

Jordan Richards of Spackmans Way, Slough, was fined £440 for not paying a train fare worth £29. He was caught at Chippenham station on October 5, 2021. 

Richards was fined the same amount after he gave false details to a Great Western Railway officer.

The 21-year-old was also ordered to pay £29 in compensation to GWR and was further ordered to pay £88 as a victim surcharge and costs of £180.

He must pay 1,177 in total.

Mihkel Kivirand of Great West Road, Isleworth, was given a fine of £440 after he failed to pay a train fare worth £93.90.

The 38-year-old was stopped at Chippenham station on November 9, 2021.

Kivirand was ordered to £93.90 in compensation to Great Western Railway and was ordered to pay £180 in court costs and £44 as a victim surcharge.

Angel Reed of Cotton House Gardens, Warminster, was given a fine 85 times worth her original train fare.

The defendant was caught at Trowbridge station on November 22, 2021 after failing to pay a train fare of £5.20.

Magistrates fined the 21-year-old £440 and ordered her to pay £5.20 in compensation.

She was also ordered to pay £180 in court costs and a victim surcharge of £44.

Another defendant received a heavy fine - this time 96 times the original train fare.

Steven Ford of Summerleaze in Trowbridge was fined £484 after he failed to pay a train fare worth £5.

The defendant was caught at Warminster station on September 30, 2021.

Magistrates ordered the 39-year-old to pay costs of £180 and £5 in compensation.

Jamie Thomas Neale was given a fine in similar circumstances to the above case.

The 33-year-old was fined £440 after he didn’t pay a train fare worth £5.

Neale of Cotton House Gardens, Warminster, was caught at Trowbridge station on November 22, 2021.

He was ordered to pay costs of £180, a victim surcharge of £44 and compensation of £5 to Great Western Railway.

Allen Dudley of Cavendish Crescent, Hornchurch, was fined £440 by magistrates after he failed to pay a train fare worth £107.10.

Dudley was caught at Swindon station after he travelled on a Great Western Railway service.

The defendant, 35, was ordered to pay costs of £180 and a victim surcharge of £44.

He was also ordered to pay compensation of £107.10 to GWR for not paying the fare.