Commuters ordered to repay thousands after Southern Railway compensation scam

Sentenced: Steven Martins and Nicole Phillips were both given suspended sentences at Highbury Magistrates' Court
British Transport Police
Jamie Bullen11 February 2016

Two commuters have been ordered to repay thousands of pounds after being caught out in a compensation fraud.

Steven Martins, 49 and Nicole Phillips, 42 scoured the internet for delayed trains before submitting false compensation claims.

They defrauded rail operator Southern of more than £6,000 before they were caught in what was described as a “deliberate scam”.

They profited from the rail operator by demanding cash from services they had not travelled on. CCTV was produced to show they weren't near the affected trains.

The pair of Pulborough, West Sussex, pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation at Highbury Magistrates’ Court following an investigation by British Transport Police.

Caught: The pair submitted claims for delayed services when CCTV showed they were elsewhere at the time
British Transport Police

Martins was sentenced to two-year prison sentence, suspended for a year, and ordered to repay Southern Railway £3,500.

Phillips was handed an 18-month prison sentence, also suspended for a year, and ordered to repay £2,600 in compensation.

Both were given 120 hours unpaid work.

Speaking after the sentencing, PC Michael Stephenson said: “This was a carefully-organised and deliberate scam designed to defraud thousands of pounds from the railway industry.

“Phillips and Martins researched services that qualified for delay compensation on the internet.

“They managed to arouse suspicion after submitting an unusually large number of claims.

“CCTV was produced that clearly showed they had already made their journeys into London for work and hadn’t been anywhere near the delayed services at the time.

“This was an operation designed to defraud the railway of thousands of pounds set aside for passengers who have been genuinely inconvenienced by delays and disruption.

“Ultimately it is the travelling public who lose out through increases in fares to cover the cost of bogus claims like these.

“We hope this sends a clear message to anyone thinking of abusing the claims system in future.”

Stella Morris, from Southern Railway, added: "Govia Thameslink Railway worked hard with British Transport Police to uncover this fraud and will continue to highlight to them those cases where we believe that fraudulent claims are being made."

The case was heard on January 22.

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