Blue badge fraud means that disabled residents have trouble parking getting around the borough. Sutton Council’s crackdown on Blue Badge fraud continues with four more drivers convicted at Croydon Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 23 February and ordered to pay a grand total of £1,330 in fines, costs and victim surcharges.
The drivers – two men and two women – admitted misusing a Blue Badge which belonged to a relative who wasn’t present at the time.
Ms W, aged 54, of Danescourt Crescent, Sutton, parked a Ford car in a mandatory disabled parking bay in Lodge Place, Sutton, on Thursday, 21 January using a Blue Badge registered to her son. Ms Philpot told officers she had parked to do some shopping. The Blue Badge holder was not present. She was fined £90 and ordered to pay £350 costs and a £20 victim surcharge.
Mr X aged 25, of Ruskin Gardens, Harrow, parked a Mercedes in a red route disabled parking bay in Grove Road, Sutton, on Wednesday, 13 January. He had used a Blue Badge issued to his 86-year-old grandmother who was out of the country. He told officers he had used the Blue Badge to park because he had been running late for a training course in Sutton. Mr Magdani was fined £80, and ordered to pay £350 costs and a £20 victim surcharge.
Mrs Y aged 39, of Wimborne Close, Worcester Park, parked a Volkswagen in a mandatory disabled bay in Lodge Place, Sutton, on Thursday, 21 January. She admitted using a Blue Badge registered to her son, who was at school at the time. Mrs Duckett was fined £40 and ordered to pay costs of £150 and a £20 victim surcharge.
Mr Z, aged 44, of Pear Tree Close, Mitcham, parked a Mini in a mandatory disabled parking bay in Lodge Place, Sutton, on Wednesday, 13 January. He admitted using a Blue Badge registered to his grandmother who was at home. Mr Fenick was fined £40 and ordered to pay £150 costs and £20 victim surcharge.
Carshalton Central’s Cllr Jill Whitehead, Chair of the Environment and Neighbourhoods Committee at Sutton Council, said:
“Misusing Blue Badges is not a trivial matter. Blue Badges are issued to help disabled people have convenient access to busy town centres. As there are only a limited number of disabled parking bays in Sutton, it is really important that they are reserved for people who are genuinely disabled and that Blue Badges are used only by the people named on them. Blue Badges are issued for the sole use of a named individual and are only valid when it is being used by, or for, the disabled person when that person is present. It is stated clearly on the Badge that misuse may constitute a criminal offence. Police and Sutton Council Parking Services’ officers carry out regular joint patrols and use the borough’s CCTV system to gather evidence to stop misuse of the borough’s 500 disabled parking bays which are for residents who have permanent or severe mobility difficulties and want to park conveniently for the shops.”
The vast majority of Sutton’s 7,144 Blue Badge Holders use the Badges as they are intended. However, a small minority of drivers deliberately misuse the Blue Badge privilege and this has led to 49 successful prosecutions in Sutton since the beginning of 2014. In January 2016, figures produced by the Department of Transport ranked Sutton Council 10th out of all local authorities in England taking the most legal action against disabled badge cheats between the period 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2015.