Homeless man sleeping on trains demonised by BBC

The BBC has reported that a ‘”brazen” rail fare dodger’ has been fined over £3,600 for not paying for hundreds of journeys. However, it quickly becomes clear that the man is actually homeless and was sleeping on the trains. So why didn’t the BBC cover it that way?

BBC paints a homeless man as a criminal

The BBC article reports that Charles Brohiri, 29, “travelled” on Govia Thameslink Railway trains 112 times “without buying a ticket” in just under two years. He was given a suspended sentence and ordered to pay back £3,629. Brohiri had previously been sentenced for 36 charges of failing to pay for a ticket in August 2024. He pleaded guilty to 76 recent charges.

The judge at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Nina Tempia, said Brohiri had a “sense of entitlement” and “acted as if he was invincible.”

The BBC also mentions that he continued to travel without paying after initially being charged in court in January, right up until the day before the current hearing. Apparently, there have been a further 16 offences since then.

What it glosses over, though, is the reason why Brohiri continued to commit the ‘crime’. He’s actually been homeless for the last three years and has had no choice but to sleep on trains, as well as in hospitals and libraries.

State incompetence to blame

His defence, Eleanor Curzon, said Brohiri had attempted to get support but struggled to engage with charities. She said it was:

a combination of a lack of support, a negative mental health space and not knowing how to go about maintaining support from services

Curzon also told the court that Brohiri wanted to make a change in his life, and getting sober three years ago demonstrated that. She also pointed out that he had always complied when caught by authorities.

Brohiri has admitted his crimes and wants to be given a chance to get into work and be supported back into having somewhere to live. Curzon told the court:

He reiterated to me this morning that if he is given the opportunity to work with probation they can assist him in securing accommodation and employment.

It is really these two factors which will put an end to Mr Brohiri’s offending.

BBC thinks homeless man not paying £15k is a bad thing

Thankfully, Brohiri was given a suspended sentence. He has, however, been ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work. Hopefully, he will also be able to get paid employment alongside that, so he can live safely.

While Brohiri has to (somehow) pay the fine, he thankfully doesn’t have to pay the £15,120 prosecution fees. The article frames this as a bad thing, naturally. This is the part where they finally quote Govia Thameslink, who say that people not paying fares:

diverted public funding away from improving services for passengers. That is unfair both on taxpayers and on the vast majority of passengers who pay for their journeys.

However, if they hadn’t prosecuted a homeless man for the ‘crime’ of literally sleeping somewhere safe, that money could’ve been spent on homeless services.

As Adam Smith said on Twitter:

And we’re supposed to think our justice system is working? That £15,000 couldn’t have been spent actually helping this guy, and many others like him?

No, instead we’ll hound someone for money they don’t have. Like they do to all of us, these days.

BBC puts corporations before people’s lives, as usual

This is clearly a story about how the system is failing vulnerable people who fall through the cracks. The fact that the BBC frames this as a “fare dodger brought to justice” and not a sharp look at the way the state treats poor people tells you everything you need to know about who the BBC serves. And let’s be honest, the BBC aren’t strangers to twisting the truth to fit their narrative. 

When it was discovered that Brohiri was repeatedly ‘offending’ because he had nowhere to sleep, the effort should’ve been on finding him somewhere safe. Instead, the system punished him and slapped a fine on a man with no possible means of paying it.

The true injustice in this story is being done to people like Brohiri every day. Not faceless corporations — worth millions — that force the taxpayer to pay for their sham trials. That’s what the BBC should be reporting on, instead of sucking off scumbag CEOs.

Featured image via Housing Digital