Woman fined for using her mother’s blue badge

Joanne Wright (45), of Wingfield Road, Rotherham, used her mother’s disabled parking badge to park in a pay and display parking bay on Eastwood Lane last April.

Council officers visited the badge holder’s address and established that she had been at home at the time the badge was being used, said a council spokeswoman.

Wright pleaded not guilty when the case was originally heard in Sheffield Magistrates’ Court in September 2018. Her trial was set for last Tuesday (15) but she failed to appear at court and was found guilty in her absence. 

She was fined £660 with costs of £586 plus a £66 victim surcharge.

Cllr Denise Lelliott, cabinet member for jobs and the local economy said: “This is a further example of this extremely anti-social crime. People need to consider whether it is worth risking a criminal record rather than paying for parking.

“I wish to congratulate the council officers involved with this case on their tenacity in achieving this positive outcome. This council will continue to take such cases very seriously and take legal action whenever it is in the public interest to do so.”