Originally Publish By Steve Deeks
Martin Read, of Recreation Road, Houghton Regis near Luton in Bedfordshire, was exposed for using his disabled wife’s Blue Badge on multiple occasions during his working stint in Portsmouth.
But despite overwhelming CCTV evidence, Read continued to protest his innocence and claim his wife was with him – despite her being at home 120 miles away.
Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court heard how Read used the badge on more than 10 occasions across a two week period starting on August 30 last year. Suspicions were aroused when an enforcement officer spotted the Read’s Ford Transit van parked with a Blue Badge belonging to a 37-year-old woman in a pay and display bay in Melbourne Place.
When a call was made to the badge holder it was quickly terminated when the officer introduced himself. A further security call revealed the badge holder was at her home address. A Penalty Charge Notice was then issued to the vehicle.
The following day Read attended the council’s civic offices and was quizzed under caution. “The defendant stated his wife (the badge holder) was in the vehicle when he parked on August 30, however he then said she had gone home to Luton the day before,” an enforcement officer’s statement read out to court said.
“The defendant was advised that his parking location was directly underneath a CCTV camera located on the outside of Unite Student Halls of Residence which would be checked to confirm or refute his claims. The defendant remained adamant that his wife was in the vehicle on each occasion of use.”
However, despite Read’s steadfast denials, CCTV checks from the halls of residence were carried out. The footage revealed Read on a number of occasions over several days with the badge holder “not present on any of the observed occasions of use”.
The court also heard how records showed that in May 2023 Norfolk County Council launched an investigation into allegations of disabled badge misuse against Read. But the investigation was closed due to lack of cooperation by the defendant and the badge holder due to them failing to disclose information and not responding to letters and refusing to attend interviews.
The court was told Read failed to attend a scheduled interview over the Portsmouth matter before a call was made to him where he stated he would not be attending as he “has a business to run and a wife to care for”.
Despite multiple attempts to contact the defendant, he failed to respond to any requests subsequently.
The case went before magistrates in his absence who found Read guilty of misuse of a disabled badge. The bench imposed a financial penalty totalling £878.90.