IT expert forged rail tickets worth £12,000

A computer expert could be jailed after forging a ticket to commute free to London for more than two years.

IT consultant Jonathan Moore, 27, saved more than £12,000 in fares by faking a three-month ticket for his daily trip from East Sussex to the capital.

His ruse was only spotted when an inspector noticed that his ticket's colour looked wrong during a routine inspection on board a train.

Moore, from Hove, used his computer skills to design the convincing-looking pass on his home PC.

By presenting it to inspectors on his daily journey to the capital he escaped the usual monthly charge of £333 from July 2006 until November last year.

Police found he had forged rail tickets dating back years and discovered the incriminating ticket designs on his computer.

At Brighton magistrates' court Moore admitted fraud, making 74 forged travel tickets and possessing 11 forged tickets.

Magistrates warned him he could be jailed and said sentencing him was beyond their powers.

Moore, who has no previous convictions, was bailed to appear at Lewes crown court later this month.

Dc Rob Cager, who led the British Transport Police investigation, said: "The simple fact is that he abused his skills as an IT consultant to produce forged tickets, effectively allowing him to enjoy free travel on the railways to the tune of more than £12,000.

"When arrested, he was found in possession of forged rail tickets dating back to 2006, while a search of his computer uncovered the designs he had produced for them."

He added: "We will work closely with the rail companies to ensure that those who seek to make financial gain in this way are brought to justice."

The total fares Moore escaped paying add up to £12,472.

Many people living in the Brighton and Hove area commute to work in London and reports of passengers using forged tickets are rare in Sussex.

But fare dodgers are believed to cost the travel industry £210million a year in lost revenue on London commuter routes and £25million on London Underground alone.

Earlier this year former mayor Ken Livingstone, who once led a crusade against fare dodgers, hit the headlines after being let off a £20 penalty for failing to pay a single fare from Paddington to Slough.