A serial dodger of railway fares with a £30,000 bill has been told he faces time behind bars if he boards another train.
Charles Brohiri, 28, has been told not to enter any property ‘owned, leased or managed’ by Govia Thameslink Railway – including all Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern rail services.
He is said to owe more than £30,000 in fare-dodging fines – having been caught without a valid ticket on 180 occasions during the past two years.
Brorhiri’s rail fare-swerving offending covered the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern rail network, stretching from England’s South Coast to Peterborough.
He has promoted himself online as a rapper known as Rvre Dean.
Brohiri, previously living in Hatfield in Herfordshire, told magistrates he was now homeless, with no mobile phone and only able to go online at public libraries.
His sentencing has now been adjourned until next month, with Brohiri’s barrister arguing that GTR had committed a criminal offence by prosecuting him.
Eleanor Curzon, for Brohiri, said GTR had broken the Legal Services Act, that bars non-lawyers from conducting litigation or presenting cases before judges in court.
GTR acknowledged using a so-called lay prosecutor to pursue cases against Brohiri – but highlighted a legal exemption allowing the firm to do so.
Ms Curzon said: ‘We would say that what the lay prosecutor has done, in doing this, without being authorised, is to be in breach under section 14 of the Legal Services Act 2007 such that they have, in fact, committed a criminal act by doing so.’
She described Brohiri as ‘an unrepresented member of the public being subjected to a private prosecution by a large organisation’, the Telegraph reported.
GTR’s barrister Peter Ratliff said: ‘There was a clear basis upon which a lay prosecutor, working on behalf of the prosecutor as provided for by [Criminal Procedure] Rule 46, can start the ball rolling.
‘The defendant has, with respect, entirely failed to identify any possible prejudice or unfairness.’
Train operator Thameslink runs services north-south across London, with some services running as far as Brighton , Luton and Bedford.
A description on the L-Hit website said Rvre Dean released his first EP in 2018.
It said: ‘Dean’s music is set apart by its melodic, trippy, soulful, authentic sound and feeling. Even though Dean never shies away to drop lyrics when intended to.’
Despite being homeless, it said the rapper was ‘into fashion’ and had signed up for a model agency. It said he also curated his own fashion brand ClvssyMvrty in 2016.
Gareth Ring, prosecutor for Thameslink, previously handed a court a dossier of 180 previous instances where he was caught without a ticket.
He was later arrested and brought to court on March 30, where he was bailed to reappear for sentencing.
However, he was subsequently spoken to 13 more times without a valid ticket.
The previous record for a rail far evasion fine was £10,000 in southern Essex.
Higher sums have been paid back in the past as an alternative for prosecution, normally for fines of only a few hundred pounds.
In the court appearance in May, Mr Ring asked him: ‘Mr Brohiri, you’re clearly well-presented appearance-wise. Did the charity give you help here?’
He replied: ‘Nah, these are, like, some things I had.’
The court heard that Brohiri ‘clearly disregarded whatever happened in March’ and continued to board Thamselink trains.
