A RAIL commuter who dodged his fare by forging Metro cards worth more than £7,000 was spared jail by a judge who labelled his offending "nasty and mean."

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC told Colin Dunne: "There will be many people who would dearly like to see me send you to prison."

Dunne was sent to Bradford Crown Court for sentence by magistrates after he pleaded guilty to making and possession of false Metro cards and fraud by false representation.

Dunne, 50, of Hunters Park Avenue, Clayton, Bradford, used the forged cards to travel to work on Network Rail for free between Bradford and Skipton for seven months, prosecutor Emma Downing said yesterday.

He admitted making 106 false Metro cards, worth a total of £7,362.

Dunne was overheard discussing the fraud with a woman travelling on the train with him on September 18 last year.

He was arrested and charged the following month while using one of his fake cards.

Police found 106 of the cards on him and blank cards at his home.

Miss Downing said officers seized them and Dunne's computer, printer and scanner.

He told the police he was short of money but the court heard his partner was giving him £30 a week to cover his travel costs. He was deceiving her and pocketing the cash.

Miss Downing said Dunne had saved £714 on rail fares over seven months.

His barrister, Mark McKone, said this was the first time he had done anything like this.

He was a hard working man who deeply regretted his actions. He had not caused a vast amount of loss to the rail company.

Dunne's partner had thrown him out when she found out about the fraud but the couple were now reconciled, the court heard.

Judge Durham Hall said it was a planned and sophisticated fraud that rail commuters would find intolerable.

"It is infuriating to think that people are dodging fares. The rail company is put to great expense putting exit checks at even the smallest of stations because people like you are avoiding paying their fares," he said.

But Dunne was a hard working man on a modest income.

Although the case crossed the custody threshold, he did not need to go straight to prison.

"Don't be so silly again, please," the judge told him.

Dunne was sentenced to ten months imprisonment, suspended for two years, with 180 hours of unpaid work.

He must pay £714 compensation to Northern Rail and £425 court costs.