Russell Brand admits jumping train barrier and avoiding fare

The multimillionaire admitted skipping the £14.90 fare on a train from London to Essex

He is worth £15 million – but comedian Russell Brand has admitted that he doesn’t always fork out for train fares.

Speaking at a recording of a podcast in east London on Thursday night, Brand revealed he had dodged the £14.90 fare for a train from London to Chelmsford, Essex, by hopping over the ticket barrier, the Mirror reported.

He said: “From someone that’s gone from no wealth to wealth, I know that money doesn’t make me happier. Like I jumped the train yesterday when I had to go to Chelmsford."

In the same week that it was revealed that a hedge fund manager dodged £42,000-worth of train fares by exploiting a loophole that allowed him to pay only a third of the cost, Brand said that he simply couldn’t be bothered to purchase a ticket.

“I could have got a ticket but I couldn’t be bothered with the rigmarole of getting one. I realised all I had to do was get over a barrier so I did that and then slid out the other end behind someone,” the 38-year-old said.

A spokesman from Great Anglia, which runs the route, declined to comment on Brand’s confession, but said: “We take fare evasion very seriously as it is in the interest of everyone that travels.”