originally publish by localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
A man has been convicted of fraud after misusing a blue badge and ordered to pay more than £7,000 in fines and costs following a prosecution by Reading Borough Council.
Satbir Ahluwalia, 61, the Manager of a care home in Cressingham Road, Reading, was caught by a civil enforcement officer in Wokingham in April last year using a Reading Borough Council-issued organisational Blue Badge for his own convenience. The Blue Badge was issued only for use when conveying disabled residents of the care home.
In an interview, Ahluwalia stated he had driven his father to Wokingham and used the blue badge in a car park near the flat where he was collecting his children.
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 Ahluwalia and two children.
Ahluwalia was charged and convicted of fraud by false representation under section 2 of the Fraud Act.
At a hearing at Reading Magistrates Court earlier this month (6 July), Ahluwalia was handed a fine of £1,920. He was also ordered to pay prosecution costs in full, as well as a victim surcharge. The total costs Ahluwalia was ordered to pay was £7,029.36.
Reading worked with Wokingham Borough Council and officers from NSL Parking Services to gather evidence.
Commenting on the prosecution, James Crosbie, Assistant Director of Planning, Transport & Public Protection at Reading Borough Council, said: “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.”
Crosbie added: “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.”