Teenager fined £300 after assaulting ticket inspectors

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter 

A Greenwich teenager has been fined £300 after assaulting three Southeastern ticket inspectors at a railway station last year. 

Hasan Sasmaz was sentenced at Bexley Magistrates’ Court today for the incident that occurred at Sittingbourne station on August 2, 2023.

The 19-year-old, of Bostall Lane in Abbey Wood, pleaded guilty to three charges of assault in May this year. 

Sasmaz punched a revenue enforcement officer in the face and grabbed another by their throat after attempting to evade paying a train fare. 

District Judge Karen Hammond described the incident as ‘nasty and violent’ assaults ,while prosecutor Sophie Young said one of the enforcement officers claimed Sasmaz had demonstrated a ‘shocking level of violence’.

The injuries sustained by the officers were not permanent.

Defence counsel Vicky Payton said Sasmaz was “embarrassed by his actions” and that he had been misunderstood. 

Judge Hammond said she acknowledged that the teenager was only 17 years old when he committed the offences and she had considered the relevant guidelines for sentencing young people.

Sasmaz must complete 120 hours of unpaid work under a 12-month community order. He must also pay £100 in compensation for each officer that he assaulted, totalling £300 which will be deducted from his benefits.

Judge Hammond said: “The public would be rightly appalled by the casual and routine violence that those in a public role encounter. This turned out to be a very expensive rail journey indeed.”

Pictured top: Bexley Magistrates’ Court as seen in Norwich Place (Picture: Joe Coughlan)