A Metro passenger allegedly skipped buying a ticket 26 times - but was only fined for ONE of them.
Stunned court officials claimed they'd never seen anyone face as many fare evasion charges as John Cornish.
Yet Cornish has now been fined as much as he would have had he just paid up straight away.
The 36-year-old had denied every charge but didn't bother turning up to court for his trial.
So instead, prosecutor Sarah O'Neil was forced to read details from each almost identical case in order to prove them in his absence.
The process was so tedious, the prosecutor asked magistrates at one point if she could sit down to read the rest.
And she even withdrew six of the charges, conceding: "I'm wondering whether it is worth it as he's not going to get fined for each one."
The bench at Newcastle Magistrates' Court hit Cornish with the maximum £400 fine for his latest offence - with "no further penalty" for the remaining 19 that were proved in absence.
The fine works out at £20 per offence.
Those caught riding the Metro without a ticket face can pay a £20 fine at the time.
If that isn't paid in time, it can increase up to £80 before legal action is taken.
In Cornish's case, some of his offences dated back almost seven years.
When caught, the court heard he used excuses ranging from not having any cash or not having enough time to buy a ticket.
On one occasion, the Cramlington man did have a ticket - but for the wrong zones.
"I've never come across 20 Metro cases to be dealt with on the same occasion," uttered the court clerk, who told magistrates there was "no precedent" in how to sentence him.
However, the bench said it "had to be realistic" in how it punished benefit claimant Cornish, who already owes the courts over £1,500.
But Metro operator Nexus said the case shows that passengers travelling without a ticket "will end up getting caught".
“We have record levels of staff on the system who are out there carrying out checks and providing customer service at stations and on trains, supported by officers from the Northumbria Police Metro Unit," a spokesperson said.
“Refusal to pay the £20 penalty fare results in prosecution, a substantial fine, and a criminal record. All of that really isn’t worth the price of a Metro ticket.
“Prolific Metro cheats, those people who simply refuse to buy a ticket, are only cheating themselves and their actions are grossly unfair on the thousands of law abiding customers who pay for their travel every day.
“Fare evasion costs us vital revenue that we invest back into the service that we provide.
"Metro is a public service that doesn’t make a profit and gets a Government subsidy to keep it running, so the money that we get from fares is absolutely vital.”
Besides the fine, Cornish, of Redford Place, was ordered to pay £100 in costs and a £40 charge.
