A rail construction worker who defrauded at least £27,000 using fake train tickets commuting from his Kent home to North London is facing jail. Rory Stickels was caught after a suspicious staff member at St Pancras railway station noticed his expired ticket, and then discovered nine other forgeries in his wallet on January 26 last year, Highbury Magistrates heard on Monday (May 13).
The 45-year-old construction worker, of Queens Road, Romney, wore a grey polo and blue jeans as he appeared in the dock, holding back tears as details of his ‘desperation’ for a cheaper commute were heard.
The divorced dad was employed for Network Rail through an agency while he was living in Kent, and had ‘fallen on hard times’, according to prosecutor Zahid Hussain.
“Because of the expense incurred, he made a foolish decision to use what he described as a fraudulent forged ticket to commute to and from home into London, from London back home,” said Mr Hussain, explaining how a ‘discrepancy’ was found on an out of date ticket, which then led a rail worker to find nine more fakes, dating back to 2019, inside the builder’s wallet.
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Mr Hussain said Stickels was supplied by ‘a third party’ every time his fake ticket expired until he was caught and handed over to British Transport Police. The cost of a real season ticket, from Ashford International to St Pancras (the route used by Stickels), ranges from between £6,000 to £9,000 for high-speed services.
The estimated financial cost was between £27,000 to £66,000, placing the offence at harm level that gives a starting point of three years in prison. Mr Hussain called for the case to be dealt with at the crown court.
A probation officer told the court Stickels had appeared ‘upset and tearful’ throughout his probation interview. But she said he maintained he was not aware the ticket was a fake after purchasing them from someone at work who themselves allegedly knew a corrupt person in the ticketing office.
“It was during the time he was lamenting the difficulty of his daily drive that someone offered him the tickets at a discounted rate. He told me he paid them around £1,000 a year. He told me he was aware they were not 100 per cent legitimate, but he did not know they were forged,” said the probation officer.
She explained Stickels had done it to ‘lighten the burden’ on his finances, following an ‘acrimonious’ divorce in 2008 and the death of his father. Stickels, who lives at home, had since remarried and supports up to eight children between two mothers, though not all are his.
Stickels lost his railway job but has since regained a construction job, which earns him £800 a week. The probation worker also said ‘he regrets his actions’ and now understands the impact of the fraud on the train company and the effect it has on ticket prices.
‘Honourable reasons’
Defence counsel Stuart Mills said his client committed the fraud ‘for honourable reasons in order to work’ so he could cover the costs of his ‘extensive responsibilities. Mr Mills also said it was a ‘disgrace’ the case had taken over a year to get to court, with the impending prosecution ‘hanging over’ Stickels and causing him depression and anxiety.
Floating the question of whether Stickels should have just resigned from his job in London, rather than engage in a series of frauds, Mr Mills said it would have presented ‘a difficult situation’. He also argued there was no ‘abuse of position’ by Stickels, as he had not been directly employed by Network Rail.
Asking the magistrates to deal with Stickels in the lower court, Mr Mills argued the offences could be dealt with by a suspended sentence and unpaid work. The magistrates were persuaded the sentence would be significantly reduced by the mitigation, but concluded the offences were so serious they could only be dealt with in the crown court.
“It’s outside the powers of this court to deal with you. Depending on the length of the sentence given in the crown court, it might be suspended, we do not know,” the chair told Stickels. “It’s too serious for us to deal with, so it’s going to have to go to the crown court.”
Stickels was released on unconditional bail ahead of sentencing at Inner London Crown Court at a later date.
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