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| Follow the tracks: Who is Stonegate’s great train fare robber? | |
| (about 13 hours later) | |
| His identity remains a mystery – but whoever he is, the hedge fund executive who managed to dodge £42,000-worth of train fares has certainly got the villagers of Stonegate gossiping. | His identity remains a mystery – but whoever he is, the hedge fund executive who managed to dodge £42,000-worth of train fares has certainly got the villagers of Stonegate gossiping. |
| Locals in the East Sussex community were today trying to work out whether they had ever exchanged words or shared a pint with the culprit, who is thought to be the biggest fare dodger in history, after avoiding the full price of his commute for five years. | Locals in the East Sussex community were today trying to work out whether they had ever exchanged words or shared a pint with the culprit, who is thought to be the biggest fare dodger in history, after avoiding the full price of his commute for five years. |
| “I’ve had lots of clients talking about it,” said a local hairdresser, who like many residents didn’t want to be named for fear of potentially scaring a rich client away. “No one knows who it is. I know a few hedge fund managers around here but I couldn’t possibly disclose their names.” | “I’ve had lots of clients talking about it,” said a local hairdresser, who like many residents didn’t want to be named for fear of potentially scaring a rich client away. “No one knows who it is. I know a few hedge fund managers around here but I couldn’t possibly disclose their names.” |
| The senior executive is believed to have travelled into London every day without buying a ticket, incurring a meagre £7.20 daily fine on his Oyster card by simply “tapping out” from Cannon Street station once he arrived in London, thus evading the £4,548 cost of an annual season ticket. | The senior executive is believed to have travelled into London every day without buying a ticket, incurring a meagre £7.20 daily fine on his Oyster card by simply “tapping out” from Cannon Street station once he arrived in London, thus evading the £4,548 cost of an annual season ticket. |
| The canny commuter avoided detection from 2008 until the end of last year and has since repaid £42,550 in missing fares and £450 in legal costs. | The canny commuter avoided detection from 2008 until the end of last year and has since repaid £42,550 in missing fares and £450 in legal costs. |
| He asked to remain anonymous in order to protect his highflying career – leaving Stonegate, one hour and 20 minutes away from the capital by rail, wondering which of its affluent commuters is to blame. | He asked to remain anonymous in order to protect his highflying career – leaving Stonegate, one hour and 20 minutes away from the capital by rail, wondering which of its affluent commuters is to blame. |
| At a farm shop down the road from the station – which sells delicacies such as camel burgers, Zebra meat and goose eggs to cater for wealthy customers in a village where the average house price is £500,000 – Lucy Enville, 78, said she’d love to find out who the hustler was. | At a farm shop down the road from the station – which sells delicacies such as camel burgers, Zebra meat and goose eggs to cater for wealthy customers in a village where the average house price is £500,000 – Lucy Enville, 78, said she’d love to find out who the hustler was. |
| “I’ve lived here for nearly 30 years and I’ve never heard anything like it,” she said. “He must be a wealthy kind of chap if he lives around here. We’ve had lots if people asking but no one knows who it is. It’s hot gossip at the moment.” | “I’ve lived here for nearly 30 years and I’ve never heard anything like it,” she said. “He must be a wealthy kind of chap if he lives around here. We’ve had lots if people asking but no one knows who it is. It’s hot gossip at the moment.” |
| In the nearby village of Ticehurst, a local barman, who also wanted to remain anonymous for fear of offending his customers, told The Independent he had his suspicions about a man who used to drink regularly at the pub. “That geezer that’s been dodging the fares?” he asked. “Yeah, there used to be a guy who drank in here, a sketchy fella he was. It could have been him.” | In the nearby village of Ticehurst, a local barman, who also wanted to remain anonymous for fear of offending his customers, told The Independent he had his suspicions about a man who used to drink regularly at the pub. “That geezer that’s been dodging the fares?” he asked. “Yeah, there used to be a guy who drank in here, a sketchy fella he was. It could have been him.” |
| A waitress at the same pub told the paper she thought it was the fault of Southeastern trains, saying the rail company should have been “more on the ball”. | A waitress at the same pub told the paper she thought it was the fault of Southeastern trains, saying the rail company should have been “more on the ball”. |
| “It serves them right,” she said. “How did he get away with it for five years? It puts the rail system to shame.” | “It serves them right,” she said. “How did he get away with it for five years? It puts the rail system to shame.” |
| A spokesman for the local parish council, however, accused the commuter of “getting a kick” out of dodging fares. | A spokesman for the local parish council, however, accused the commuter of “getting a kick” out of dodging fares. |
| Even if he remains anonymous forever, at least the villagers have enjoyed the mystery. A man walking his dog along a deserted country lane said in hushed tones that he might “know a man, who knows a man”, before winking knowingly and promising to keep us informed. | Even if he remains anonymous forever, at least the villagers have enjoyed the mystery. A man walking his dog along a deserted country lane said in hushed tones that he might “know a man, who knows a man”, before winking knowingly and promising to keep us informed. |