Man ordered to pay out almost £1,700 for Blue Badge misuse

A man was ordered to pay out almost £1,700 after misusing a Blue Badge in a west Suffolk town.

On December 15 last year, a parking enforcement officer for West Suffolk Council discovered a vehicle parked on double yellow lines in the access road to the Guineas shopping centre in Newmarket.

The vehicle was displaying a Blue Badge which had a discrepancy with the expiry date and following a check it was found the badge belonged to a deceased individual and had been cancelled in February 2022 but not returned to the council.

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John Ryan, the driver of the vehicle, refused to hand the badge over for inspection and drove away resulting in the case being referred to Suffolk County Council's Counter Fraud Service for further investigation.

It was found the badge belonged to Ryan's deceased father.

Ryan, of Hawthorn Farm in West Row, pleaded guilty to wrongful display of a Blue Badge and failing without reasonable excuse to produce the Blue Badge for inspection when required at Suffolk Magistrates' Court in Ipswich on Monday.

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He was fined and ordered to pay investigatory and legal costs, as well as a victim surcharge - totalling £1,674.

Georgia Chimbani, director of adult social services in Suffolk, said: "Blue Badge misuse is not a victimless crime.

"Disabled parking spaces are a lifeline to disabled people across Suffolk, giving them the ability to access community spaces, shopping and other venues.

"I am pleased that this individual was caught and received the fine they did."