Rhondda Cynon Taf Council is issuing a stark warning to anyone who abuses the use of Blue Disabled Badges following the successful prosecution of three offenders last month.
Three people were caught wrongfully using Blue Badges across the County Borough, TWO of which were parked in the Council owned car park in Gas Road, Pontypridd and the other was parked in High Street Car Park, Aberdare – a vehicle displaying a valid Blue Badge can park free of charge in Council car parks, if parked in a designated disabled bay.
All of those caught had displayed Blue Badges on their dashboards – but when the Council’s Civil Enforcement Officers inspected the badges on display, it was discovered that the true owners of TWO of the badges could not be parked in that space, or be accompanying the driver, as they had all sadly passed away. The other blue badge was found to be a fake.
Each of the offenders were interviewed under caution by officers from the Council’s Corporate Fraud Team and admitted the offences.
Due to the serious nature of the cases, they were referred to Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates Court. All THREE offenders were found guilty, of two offences of having possession, an article (i.e. the blue badge) for the use of or in connection with a fraud, contrary to Section 6 of the Fraud Act 2006.
Blue Badge misuse is a criminal offence and can result in a fine of up to £1,000 and a criminal record. A Penalty Charge Notice of up to £70 will normally be issued to anyone misusing a disabled parking bay.
The THREE offenders walked away from court with a combined fine of over £1400!
Barrie Davies, Deputy Chief Executive and Group Director for Corporate Resources said:
“People rely on their Blue Badges and the scheme is designed to help people with mobility challenges access local amenities, so that they can park near workplaces, supermarkets, and health facilities. Illegal and misuse of the scheme denies a space to someone who genuinely needs it.
“It is particularly concerning that TWO of these convictions involved the display of a badge that belonged to a deceased person. It is not acceptable to misuse this service, and the recent enforcement operation shows that this Council is taking action to stop this abuse. This won’t be tolerated in in RCT and our dedicated team will continue to regularly patrol areas within the County Borough and individuals found to abuse this support scheme will be prosecuted.”
