Rail passengers who shared their commute with the UK's biggest known fare dodger have called for him to be prosecuted, while others voiced sneaking admiration for his scam.
Since news broke on Sunday that a man who is said to work for a City hedge fund had agreed to repay £43,000 after being caught avoiding fares over five years, regulars on the services into London Bridge and Cannon Street from Stonegate in East Sussex have been trying to piece together clues to his identity. As the weekly commute restarted they had drawn a blank.
"I want to know who it was because it puts the price up for the rest of us," said Tim Ball, 46, a partner in a law firm boarding the 7.37am to London on platform one.
"He should have been prosecuted," said Martin Bowles, 48, a pensions manager who has been commuting for 25 years. "He would have a criminal record, lose his job and that would teach him a bit of a lesson. He has obviously got the money to pay [for a season ticket] and I am sure he is not the only one who has done it. There are always people on the train who don't have a ticket."
Some commuters had been gossiping about his possible identity in the local pub and on Facebook overnight. He paid the money to Southeastern in an out-of-court settlement on condition of anonymity in order, the rail company said, to allow him to keep his job.
"We will find out who it is," said Andy Williams, 50, a management consultant finishing a cigar in the car park before boarding the 7.37am. "He probably bragged about it in the pub and somebody will shop him and then unless he owns his own hedge fund he's probably out of a job. Plus this would probably breach the Financial Conduct Authority rules."
Theories as to how he avoided detection from the onboard ticket inspectors ranged from pretending to be asleep, ducking into the loo or the simple act of offering to buy a single ticket if asked, something that regular travellers said did not happen on every journey. Several commuters said he was not alone in dodging fares and intelligence on which stations had open ticket barriers was common currency. Some said sympathy for fare dodgers was increased by frustration with Southeastern's service. On Sunday morning there were delays and cancellations because of signalling problems on the line.
"I laughed when I saw it," said one commuter waiting for the 7.17am. "I can't say I particularly agree with what he has done, but the price of the ticket is revolting. It is bloody expensive."
"There's a lot of people thinking: 'Yeah, well done,'" said Nigel Fellows, 45, a construction manager who has travelled the line for two-and-a-half years. "Southeastern are quite poor. I think people can sympathise with it a bit. I do think he should be prosecuted, but I think secretly people will think: 'Well done for getting away with it for so long.'"
Stonegate is an affluent area. The station car park filled up with Range Rovers, Mercedes and Porsche cars as commuters arrived for early trains to London from outlying villages where large detached homes cost upwards of £2m.
"There are quite a few hedge fund managers on the train," said Gareth Hollyman, 55, a property manager. "He's not alone [in dodging fares]. It is probably 50/50 whether there's a ticket inspector that can be bothered going up and down the train checking tickets. He should be prosecuted. If you are in that sort of job and live around here you could have thought he could afford it. But hey, maybe the school fees have gone up!"
Some joked that the fare dodger had become something of a Robin Hood figure.
"We think he's a hero," said a chauffeur heading in to London on the 8am service. "We don't want him to become known. We want to learn from him."
• 30 November 2015. To clarify: the sum of £43,000 which was paid to settle this matter out of court does not reflect the value of the unpaid fares alone, which were substantially less.
