A man has been jailed by a Preston court after dishonestly claiming over £1,000 in compensation.

Thomas Ingram, 38, of Cheltenham Road, Blackpool, was jailed for 16 months at Preston Crown Court on Monday 8 July after he pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation.

The court also ordered him to pay a £156 surcharge.

The court heard how a British Transport Police investigation uncovered the details of a systematic fraud.

As early as 23 March last year, a Transport for Wales (TfW) fraud investigator raised the alarm to British Transport Police, after studying an extraordinary number of claims made by the same person through the delay compensation scheme.

It appeared that between 23 November 2020 and 26 January 2023, Ingram had submitted 28 claims to the value of £5,372 for delay repayment.

Transport for Wales had paid out £1,294 of these before rejecting other claims because they suspected their legitimacy.

Following the initial Transport Police inquiries, a fraud investigator at Northern then contacted officers with evidence that Ingram had also submitted fraudulent claims to them.

This time, the claims were for nearly £100 worth of discounts using a young person’s railcard for which he was not eligible.

British Transport Police point out the common misconception that ticket fraud is a victimless crime. When incurred by rail companies, these costs result in fare hikes and delayed payments to legitimate claimants.

Northern Trains keep a close watch out for persistent rail fraud.

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Ingram was audacious and brazen in his numerous attempts to defraud railway companies. He now has time to reflect on whether his dishonesty was worth it as he serves his jail sentence.”

DC Callum Lancaster, Investigating officer