Two People Fined for Illegal Blue Badge Use at Westfield
White City woman claimed disabled son was ill on day she was caught
The person a blue badge is issued to should be travelling in the vehicle. Picture: Disabled Motoring UK
A woman has been asked to pay over £700 after using her son’s disabled badge to park when she ran to shops while he wasn’t in the car.
Iris Elphson, 38, was caught using the blue badge when she parked on Bulwer Street outside Westfield Shopping Centre an eight-minute journey from her home in Banstead Court, Westway on 18 July 2020.
Now, two years on from the incident, she has been fined £200 and asked to pay Hammersmith and Fulham Council £504 in costs plus a £32 victim surcharge fee.
A parking inspector approached Ms Elphson after he spotted the badge on her car and he spotted her leaving the vehicle, City of London Magistrates Court heard on 27 October.
When the inspector asked her why she had used the blue badge, she reportedly said it belonged to her son who was ill at home. She added that she normally used the badge as her son is usually with her.
But because her son was not there, Ms Elphson should have paid as usual. She did not attend court.
The court heard evidence from the parking inspector at the scene. Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s lawyer, summing up the case, said: “An inspector saw a blue badge on the dashboard and the defendant was seen leaving the vehicle. When asked who the badge holder was she said it was for her son. He was at home and he was unwell.
She said the reason, ‘I’m using the badge is because he is always with me’ but today he doesn’t feel well.”
City of London Magistrates Court also heard how a man used his cousin’s blue badge to go shopping at Westfield – even though his cousin was over 200 miles away.
Nadeem Faizal, 61, from Petre Wood Crescent in Blackburn, was seen parking his BMW outside Westfield Shopping Centre on 7 May, 2022. The 61-year-old was spotted returning to his car with two children, the court heard.
When a parking inspector asked him why he had a blue badge, he explained it belonged to his cousin and that he was still in the shopping centre.
Faizal also allegedly said they were going to drive the car around to another part of the shopping centre to meet his cousin. But when the parking inspector insisted on joining them to find the blue badge holder, Mr Faizal admitted his cousin was not in the shopping centre at all.
His cousin was in fact over 200 miles away at home in Blackburn, the court heard. Mr Faizal was fined £100 and asked to pay £504 in costs to Hammersmith and Fulham Council, plus a victim surcharge fee of £34. He did not attend court.
October 28, 2022