Woman who used dead grandad’s disabled blue badge to park car faces huge fine

By Ruby Gregory, Local Democracy Reporter

A woman who took her dead grandfather’s disabled blue badge so she could park her car for free when going to work has been caught and ordered to pay a hefty fine.

Alexandra Miller and Marcus Byford were ordered to pay a total of £2,115 in fines, costs and victim surcharges after they were charged with the inappropriate use of disabled badges in court on Friday.

Ms Miller was fined £650 and ordered to pay costs of £730 as well as a victim surcharge of £65. The court ordered her to pay the total amount of £1,445 within 28 days.

While Mr Byford was fined £300 and costs of £250 as well as a victim surcharge of £120. The court ordered Mr Byford to pay the full amount of £670 within 28 days.

In February 2022, Ms Miller was caught by a council officer using her dead grandad’s blue badge while she parked her car in Basil Street, Knightsbridge, to go to work.

A Kensington and Chelsea council officer discovered Ms Miller was using her granddad’s blue badge to park her car, even though he had died in 2021

Meanwhile Mr Byford had also been caught using the badge of his grandfather – who is alive – in Lennox Gardens, Knightsbridge, in August last year.

The pair were successfully prosecuted after Kensington and Chelsea council bought their cases before the courts.

The council has now bought forward 15 successful prosecutions since April 2022 – which has generated a total of £11,472 in court costs, fines and victim surcharges.

Councillor Cem Kemahli, lead member for planning place and environment, said: “Disabled parking is crucial for people to live independently and get around our town centres.

“We will not tolerate those who attempt to abuse this system for their own advantage, denying those who really need it. It’s just not fair.

“Our officers did a good job to retrieve the blue badges in this case and bring about justice. We will continue to prosecute anyone who misuses disabled badges, as we endeavour to make our borough safer and fairer.”

Blue badges help disabled people or those with health conditions park nearer to their destination and they can be either a driver or passenger to own one.

Those who are caught misusing a blue badge face a fine of over £1,000.

Pictured top: Two people have been ordered to pay hefty fines after they were caught using their grandparents’ blue badges (Picture: Kensington and Chelsea council)