Hillingdon Council has successfully prosecuted four individuals caught fraudulently using a family member’s Blue Badge following a boroughwide parking fraud enforcement operation.
The offenders, Eulanda Griffith from Hayes, Kelly Louise Roberts from Uxbridge, Surinder Singh from Hayes, and Farhana Begum from Denham, were ordered to pay a fine of £40, a victim surcharge of £16, and prosecution costs of £250 each following a hearing at Ealing Magistrates’ Court on Monday, January 13.
The cases were proved in their absence by a single justice, a procedure, which allows magistrates to deal with less serious criminal cases without the need for the defendant to be present.
The four defendants were caught last year, both in the run up to, and on the National Blue Badge Day of Action on Friday 24 May, an annual campaign to raise awareness about the misuse of the badges. Council enforcement and counter fraud officers patrolled the borough’s car parks and on-street parking bays to check badges were being used correctly and clamp down on parking fraud.
They found that Griffith was misusing her daughter’s badge at Botwell Green Leisure Centre Car Park, Roberts was fraudulently using her daughter’s badge in an Uxbridge High Street parking bay, Singh was misusing her husband’s badge at St Anselm’s Car Park, Hayes, and Begum was fraudulently using her son’s badge at Nashes Yard Car Park, Uxbridge.
Blue Badges provide essential parking privileges for individuals with disabilities and significant health conditions that impact mobility, enabling them to park closer to their destinations.
As well as taking enforcement action, in November last year the council also carried out its first Blue Badge amnesty, giving residents the opportunity to hand in badges they were not entitled to, with no questions asked or any ramifications, which resulted in the return of 14 badges.
Cllr Eddie Lavery, Hillingdon Council’s Cabinet Member for Community and Environment said: “The misuse of Blue Badges is a serious offence that negatively impacts those residents and visitors with genuine need for accessible parking by preventing them from accessing dedicated spaces.
“To address this selfish behaviour we routinely check that badges are being used correctly, and we will not hesitate to take robust action against those who break the rules.”
