More blue badge cheats face justice
6:27pm Friday 6th July 2007 in Your Town By Andy McFarlane
OFFICIALS have vowed to keep up the pressure on the blue badge cheats' who illegally use disabled people's badges to park for free.
A further 27 people were convicted of falsely displaying permits on their windscreens at Bolton Magistrates Court yesterday.
They were fined a total of almost £3,000 after being snared in Bolton town centre as part of a joint operation between police, NCP parking wardens and Bolton Council.
Many of them had used badges belonging to relatives or had parked for free after dropping off the badge-holder elsewhere in town.
The council's executive member for environmental services Cllr Nick Peel said: "These court cases should be a warning to people who abuse the system that they are not only breaking the law but are selfishly making life more difficult for people who genuinely need parking exemptions to access facilities and go about their everyday activities.
"Bolton Council, NCP and the police, will continue to crackdown on blue badge fraud."
The following defendants were fined £100 and ordered to pay £35 costs after pleading guilty to the unlawful use of a disabled person's badge: Sanah Majeed, aged 19, of Chorley Old Road, Bolton; Afshan Bhatti, 27, of Oldstead Grove, Deane; Nicholas Bellis, aged 32, of Carnarion Road, Farnworth; Roman Girga, aged 34, of Marsden Road, Bolton; Phillip Iddon, aged 49, of Ringley Meadows, Radcliffe; Siddick Abu, aged 36, of Gibraltar Street, Gilnow; Brian John Dawson, aged 51, of Ennerdale Avenue; Nadeem Shammas, aged 46, of The Sheddings, Great Lever; Nazir Ali, aged 38, of Deane Road, Deane; Abeda Aziz, aged 39, of Brookdale Close, Halliwell; Clive Burke, aged 47, of North Way, Hall i'th' Wood; Jean Ditchfield, aged 63, of Montmoremcy Road, Knutsford, Cheshire; Malcolm Evans, aged 54, of Wigan Road, Deane; Carl Fox, aged 35, of Borough Avenue, Radcliffe; Norman Green, aged 63, of Sandy Lane, Darwen; Ilyas Kazi, aged 37, of Sutcliffe Street, Halliwell; Mohammed Khan, aged 35, of Water's Edge, Farnworth; Geoffrey Padley, aged 77, of Topp Home Court, Farnworth; Victoria Rapp, aged 56, of Brodick Drive, Breightmet; and Norma Elcoat, aged 65, of Dales Brow, Eagley.
These defendants were fined £150 and ordered to pay £60 costs after being found guilty of unlawfully using a disabled person's badge when they failed to turn up at court: Initiaz Akhtar, aged 47, of Tavistock Road, Gilnow; Anisa Bhatti, aged 56, of Oldstead Grove, Deane; Sarah Brine, aged 24, of Red Cedar Park, Darcy Lever; and Janice Moran, aged 41, of Leaside Grove, Walkden.
Rumana Gajra, aged 33, of Southgrove Avenue, Eagley, was fined a total of £140 and ordered to pay £35 costs after pleading guilty to unlawfully parking in a disabled bay and failing to produce insurance documents.
Alan Harrison, aged 59, of Irlam Street, Halliwell, admitted unlawfully parking in a disabled bay, driving using a provisional licence and without a test certificate. He was fined a total of £200, had his licence endorsed with three penalty points and ordered to pay £35 costs.
Peter Williams, aged 61, of Uganda Street, Morris Green, was found guilty of unlawfully using a disabled person's badge and driving without insurance when he failed to turn up at court. He was fined a total of £400, had his licence endorsed with six points and was ordered to pay £60 costs.
