THE manager of a Whitley care home has been ordered to pay more than £7,000 for using a blue badge to park in a disabled bay.
Reading and Wokingham borough councils teamed up for the prosecution of 61-year-old Satbir Ahluwalia. He had been using the concessionary pass despite not carrying any disabled residents from the Cressingham Road centre.
Officers from NSL Parking Services helped the councils gather evidence.
Mr Ahluwalia said he had driven his father to Wokingham and used the blue badge in the Denmark Street car park near the flat where he was collecting his children.
Mr Ahluwalia’s father was not eligible for a blue badge, nor was he a care home resident.
The only people present in the car were Mr Ahluwalia and two children.
Mr Ahluwalia was charged and convicted of fraud by false representation under section 2 of the Fraud Act.
At a hearing at Reading Magistrates Court on Thursday, July 6, Mr Ahluwalia was fined £1,920, and ordered to pay prosecution costs in full, as well as a victim surcharge. This came to a total of £7,029.36.
James Crosbie, assistant director of planning, transport and public protection at Reading Borough Council, said: “The vital Blue Badge scheme is in place to provide freedom for residents with limited mobility, allowing them to park close to their homes or destinations. Misuse of blue badges undermines the system and takes spaces away from those who need them.
“This result is thanks to the quick action taken by our Civil Enforcement officers, working with partners, to protect this valuable scheme from being abused. Prosecutions of this type are of course resource intensive, in terms of gathering the necessary evidence and proving intent and can take many months to get to court.
“The Council will also remove inappropriately used Blue Badges from circulation and where necessary fine those who are found to be misusing a blue badge.”
Reading Borough Council says it welcomes reports of suspected blue badge fraud or misuse. These can be made by logging on to its website: www.reading.gov.uk/vehicles-roads-and-transport/parking/blue-badges/blue-badge-fraud-and-misuse/
