Lawyer struck off for dodging £650 of rail fares on his commute
A lawyer has been struck off for dodging £650 of rail fares on his morning commute from Shoreditch to Redhill.
Adam Kemeny, 33, who earned £38,000 a year, regularly dodged the nearly £17 return rail fare between Shoreditch and Redhill between July and October 2017.
On 17 October he was stopped by a Govia ticket inspector who noticed he did not have sufficient funds on his Oyster card to complete the journey.
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Further investigation showed he had regularly not been tapping out on his arrival at Redhill.
He settled with Govia for £849.90 and Govia did not refer the matter to the police.
Kemeny reported the incident to his employer M Solicitors which dismissed him for gross misconduct.
He also self-reported his fare evasion to watchdog the Solicitor Regulatory Authority.
Kemeny claimed in his hearing before the solicitors disciplinary tribunal that the fare dodging took place at a time of “great financial hardship” after he was made redundant in September 2016.
However, the SDT found that Kemeny, who was receiving around £2,400 net a month, was in credit for a large part of the period when he was evading fares.
The tribunal called his misconduct "deliberate and calculated" and said it was "in material breach of obligations to protect the public and the reputation of the legal profession".
He was struck off and ordered to pay costs of £3,082.
Kemeny was contacted for comment.