Deplorable blue badge abusers fined

Paula Walton, (47) of Rolls Crescent, Rawmarsh, was fined by Sheffield magistrates after pleading guilty to the offence.

She had used her deceased mother’s blue badge to park in a designated disabled parking bay on College Street, Rotherham, last November.

Now her actions have been condemned by senior councillor Denise Lelliott.

Judith Longhill, of Bellfield Road, Manchester, pleaded guilty to the same offence when she parked her vehicle in a designated disabled bay on Main Street in Rotherham, in March. 

Walton was fined £50 with £300 costs and a £30 victim surcharge while Longhill was fined £295 with £300 costs and £30 victim surcharge.

Four other prosecutions of people illegally using disabled blue badges in Rotherham have also been heard by magistrates.

Khalid Hussain, (43), of Highgate, Tinsley, was fined £180 with £300 costs and £30 victim surcharge; Samira Kayani, (36), of Chippinghouse Road, Sheffield, was fined £135 with £300 costs and £30 victim surcharge; Nusrat Nasreen, (45), of Oxley Grove, Rotherham, was fined £295 with £300 costs and £30 victim surcharge; and Ian Copley, (57), of St Johns Road, Rotherham, was fined £200 with £300 costs and £30 victim surcharge.

All had pleaded guilty.

Cllr Lelliott, Rotherham Council’s cabinet member for jobs and the local economy, said: “These are further examples of blue badges being used for the convenience of people who were not entitled to use them. 

“Using a blue badge fraudulently is bad enough but some of these cases involved the use of a deceased person’s badge, which is absolutely deplorable. 

“Drivers need to consider whether it is worth risking a conviction to avoid having to walk a short distance or putting money in a pay and display machine.

“If we catch drivers using blue badges without being entitled to do so, we will prosecute where it is in the public interest.”