Fine outcome for penalised Melbourne dwarf

You could call it a victory for the little guy.

A Melbourne dwarf has succeeded in appealing a fine for tram fare evasion because he proved he could not reach an onboard ticket machine.

Bruce "Giant" Chaplin who stands just 1.28m tall, was fined A$150 ($163) in March despite not being able to reach to buy a ticket for the city's tram network.

Victorian transport minister Peter Bachelor said the Department of Infrastructure would withdraw Mr Chaplin's fine after reviewing the case and added inspectors should have offered to help him buy a ticket rather than issue a fine.

"Authorised officers have an obligation under their code of conduct to help people with special needs purchase tickets, common sense should have prevailed," he said.

"This is justice," Mr Chaplin, 45, told the Herald Sun newspaper.

Since the incident he had not had any trouble getting tickets.

"Yesterday somebody jumped up three seats away to help me," he said.

- NZPA