Isle of Wight lord 'laughed at' by traffic warden for his name used elderly mum's blue disabled badge to park at Southsea cafe

Lord Robbie Hamilton was caught using his elderly mother’s blue badge to park his black Land Rover in a disabled bay in Western Parade, Southsea, on January 25.

Magistrates heard the 51-year-old told a Portsmouth City Council enforcement officer the badge belonged to his 73-year-old mother, who he said was in the Parade Tea Rooms when he returned to his car.

But he was left with egg on his face after learning his mother had already told the worker she was at home, on the Isle of Wight, in a security phone call only minutes before.

Despite this Hamilton said his mum was confused and he threatened to go to the press for being ‘falsely accused and humiliated in public’.

Footage later showed him entering and leaving the cafe with another man, who had interviewed him for a job he failed to get.

Prosecuting for Portsmouth City Council, Ben Attrill said: ‘When explained to him that the CCTV had confirmed he entered and left the tea rooms without his mother he admitted he was running late for a business meeting and had therefore used his mother’s badge.’

He added: ‘He apologised for lying, making accusations and wasting officer time.’

After pleading guilty yesterday to unlawfully using a disabled person's badge when parking a vehicle, Hamilton told magistrates the offence was the ‘first time’ he had used the badge on a public road, but said he had used it to park at Tesco.

He said it was first brush with the law since being a ‘naughty boy’ and racking up a string of previous convictions going back to at least 1998.

‘I can’t defend the fact that I used a disabled badge and my mother was not in the car,' said Hamilton, a stay-at-home husband of Ashey Road, Isle of Wight, who cares for his mother.

‘I’m very guilty and I’m not here to waste your time.’