Blue badge fraudster fined £200 for using dead grandfather's badge

Parking enforcement spotted his parked car in Queen Street, Portsea, on September 25 last year with an expired badge.

When the enforcement officer later saw Sura, 21, getting in the car he approached but Sura and his passenger claimed they’d thrown away the badge.

But, questioned by the officer, they pulled it out of the glove box. The badge had expired two years previously and was registered to Sura’s grandfather.

Sura, of Manor Road, Chigwell, was prosecuted by Portsmouth City Council and entered a guilty plea to misuse of the blue badge under Section 117(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

Jenny Ager, prosecuting, said: ‘Portsmouth takes blue badge misuse very seriously.’

Magistrates at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court fined Sura £200, with a £20 victim surcharge and £200 prosecution costs.

Ramya Nagesh, defending, said Sura was not in court as he was arranging his uncle’s funeral. She said the student was of good character and productive in society.