A RAIL passenger must pay £639.70 for a £5.70 rail journey.

Kirklees Magistrates Court heard that Deshaun Dealson, 21, of Danebury Crescent, Acomb, travelled from York to Sherburn-in-Elmet on January 14 this year.

But he didn’t pay the £5.70 fare for the journey and Northern Trains Ltd told the court he deliberately didn’t pay.

The rail company summonsed him to attend court and when he failed to attend or respond to the summons, he was convicted in his absence of fare dodging.

The court ordered him to pay a £440 fine, a £44 statutory surcharge and the rail company’s £150 prosecution costs. It also ordered him to pay the rail company £5.70 compensation through the court system.

The train company said when a ticket inspector asked to see his ticket during the journey, Dealson couldn’t produce one and claimed that he didn’t have any money on him as he had left his wallet at work.

The company told the court it had sent Dealson a letter after the journey asking him to pay the fare. When he didn’t respond, it sent him a fixed penalty notice. Only when he failed to pay that, did the company have the summons issued.