Sutton Council's crackdown on Blue Badge fraud continues with a 54-year-old female driver, who used a male friend's Blue Badge to park in a disabled bay so she could nip into the shops in Sutton Town Centre to buy her lunch, ordered to pay a total of £420 at Croydon Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 9 February.
Marie Gardner's Hyundai car was spotted parked with no one inside at Lodge Place, Sutton, during an operation by Sutton Parking Services' officers, Met Police officers and the South West London Fraud Partnership to combat misuse of Blue Badges.
Marie Gardner's Hyundai car was spotted parked with no one inside at Lodge Place, Sutton, during an operation by Sutton Parking Services' officers, Met Police officers and the South West London Fraud Partnership to combat misuse of Blue Badges.
On the dashboard of the vehicle was a Blue Badge that had been issued to a 73-year-old man.
Officers waited until Gardner returned to her vehicle at 14:35hrs on Thursday, 17 December 2015. She was carrying a bag of shopping.
Under caution, she told officers that she was a nurse and that her client - the Badge Holder - was buying bread in Morrison's supermarket and she had parked ready to pick him up.
The following day - Friday, 18 December - Gardner came into Sutton's Civic Offices to give a further statement under caution that the badge holder was in fact a family friend who was out of the country and not due to return until February 2016.
Gardner was summonsed to appear at Croydon Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 26 January. She failed to turn up and a warrant was issued for her arrest. Gardner then surrendered herself to the Court on Tuesday, 2 February and her case was relisted.
At Croydon Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 9 February, Gardner, (dob: 02.03.1961), of Benhill Road, Sutton, pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation. She was fined £150 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £20 and Sutton Council costs of £250 - making a total of £420.
Gardner told the Court: "I wanted to pick up my lunch quickly in Sutton. I'm very sorry about that."
The Bench told her that she had made a decision to use the Blue Badge for her own convenience, although it was to her credit that she had admitted the offence.
Cllr Jill Whitehead, Chair of the Environment and Neighbourhoods Committee at Sutton Council, said:
"Blue Badges are issued to help disabled people have convenient access to busy town centres. We have only a limited number of disabled parking bays in Sutton and it is important that they are reserved for people who are genuinely disabled and that the Badges are not used by people other than those named on them."
Blue Badges are issued for the sole use of a named individual and are only valid when it is being used by, or for, the disabled person when that person is present. It is stated clearly on the Badge that misuse may constitute a criminal offence.
Police and Sutton Council Parking Services' officers carry out regular joint patrols to stop misuse of the borough's 500 disabled parking bays which are for residents who have permanent or severe mobility difficulties and want to park conveniently for the shops.
The vast majority of Sutton's 7,144 Blue Badge Holders use the Badges as they are intended. However, a small minority of drivers deliberately misuse the Blue Badge privilege and this has led to 45 successful prosecutions in Sutton since the beginning of 2014.
In January 2016, figures produced by the Department of Transport ranked Sutton Council 10th out of all local authorities in England taking the most legal action against disabled badge cheats between the period 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2015.
Officers waited until Gardner returned to her vehicle at 14:35hrs on Thursday, 17 December 2015. She was carrying a bag of shopping.
Under caution, she told officers that she was a nurse and that her client - the Badge Holder - was buying bread in Morrison's supermarket and she had parked ready to pick him up.
The following day - Friday, 18 December - Gardner came into Sutton's Civic Offices to give a further statement under caution that the badge holder was in fact a family friend who was out of the country and not due to return until February 2016.
Gardner was summonsed to appear at Croydon Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 26 January. She failed to turn up and a warrant was issued for her arrest. Gardner then surrendered herself to the Court on Tuesday, 2 February and her case was relisted.
At Croydon Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 9 February, Gardner, (dob: 02.03.1961), of Benhill Road, Sutton, pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation. She was fined £150 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £20 and Sutton Council costs of £250 - making a total of £420.
Gardner told the Court: "I wanted to pick up my lunch quickly in Sutton. I'm very sorry about that."
The Bench told her that she had made a decision to use the Blue Badge for her own convenience, although it was to her credit that she had admitted the offence.
Cllr Jill Whitehead, Chair of the Environment and Neighbourhoods Committee at Sutton Council, said:
"Blue Badges are issued to help disabled people have convenient access to busy town centres. We have only a limited number of disabled parking bays in Sutton and it is important that they are reserved for people who are genuinely disabled and that the Badges are not used by people other than those named on them."
Blue Badges are issued for the sole use of a named individual and are only valid when it is being used by, or for, the disabled person when that person is present. It is stated clearly on the Badge that misuse may constitute a criminal offence.
Police and Sutton Council Parking Services' officers carry out regular joint patrols to stop misuse of the borough's 500 disabled parking bays which are for residents who have permanent or severe mobility difficulties and want to park conveniently for the shops.
The vast majority of Sutton's 7,144 Blue Badge Holders use the Badges as they are intended. However, a small minority of drivers deliberately misuse the Blue Badge privilege and this has led to 45 successful prosecutions in Sutton since the beginning of 2014.
In January 2016, figures produced by the Department of Transport ranked Sutton Council 10th out of all local authorities in England taking the most legal action against disabled badge cheats between the period 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2015.