Article: We avoid packed trams, says inspector

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From the Melbourne Age click here!

We avoid packed trams, says inspector

We avoid packed trams, says inspector
CLAY LUCAS
June 2, 2010

THE secret is out. Ticket inspectors do not fine passengers on over-crowded trams.

Or so a Yarra Trams ticket inspector told a Melbourne court yesterday during a hearing in which a university student beat a charge of failing to validate his ticket.

In throwing out the charge, Deputy Chief Magistrate Jelena Popovic said inspectors had ''reconstructed'' evidence against Ben Phillips, who last May received a $222 fine.

Ticket inspector Randy Diego had accused Mr Phillips of not having validated his ticket aboard the 72 tram as it travelled through Camberwell. Mr Phillips argued he sat next to a validator and - before he could put his ticket in the machine - was stopped by Mr Diego and three other plain-clothed tram inspectors.

Mr Phillips, a fourth-year law student at Melbourne University, said he had sat down before validating because ''the tram goes downhill quite fast and I did not want to fall''.

Mr Phillips, who had validated his ticket for the three successive weekdays before he got the fine, argued he did not have a reasonable opportunity to validate before being stopped.

Barrister Philip Skehan, acting without fee, said a person should not have to validate before sitting. ''If that were valid it would create a farcical situation for a woman who had a child, or someone who had some shopping.''

Magistrate Popovic found the evidence given by Mr Diego and another ticket inspector, Balsamis Grivas, not reliable enough to convict on. ''Both officer Grivas and Diego were reconstructing from what their usual practice was. Some of their evidence was not specific to the incident before the court. The evidence given by Mr Phillips was plausible.''

Last year, ticket inspectors gave infringement notices to 71,742 tram travellers, bringing in more than $10 million in revenue for the government.

Yarra Trams and Metro employ inspectors, to give ''infringement notices'' to people they say do not have a valid ticket. These notices are given to the Department of Transport, which issues a fine. Few challenge their fines at court.

Mr Phillips had asked the department to review his fine. It refused and told him to fight it in court.

During yesterday's trial, Mr Grivas said he and other ticket inspectors did not check tickets when a tram was extremely full (known as a ''crush load''). ''We do not check,'' Mr Grivas said. ''A crush load and it is finished.''

Yarra Trams said last night this was not company policy.

Outside the court yesterday, Mr Phillips was given back his 10-trip ticket, which still had six trips remaining on it.