Misusing daughter's Blue Badge costs Hayes woman more than £8,000

Nazir Fahima, 54, was fined for Blue Badge misuse at a hearing at Ealing Magistrates' Court on Friday 12 September following an investigation by Hillingdon Council's counter fraud team.  

Fahima had denied the charge but was found guilty following a trial during the same hearing. 

The court heard how on 14 May last year, while carrying out Blue Badge checks, counter fraud officers and CEOs from the council's parking enforcement team, saw a female driver park in a disabled parking bay at Botwell Green Leisure Centre and place a Blue Badge on her dashboard. 

When questioned, Fahima told the officers that it belonged to her daughter, whom she'd just dopped off in nearby Hayes town with her father. She was asked to contact her husband and ask him to bring their daughter back to the car to verify her explanation. After calling, Fahima told officers her daughter didn't want to come, and when pressed by the officers finally admitted that she'd actually dropped her husband and daughter to a restaurant in Yeading. 

Officers informed Fahima that she had committed an offence under Section 117 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and confiscated the Blue Badge. 

The magistrates were also told that Fahima had been given a caution in 2021 for misusing her daughter's Blue Badge to park in Ruislip Lido car park, while her daughter was at school. Fahima had claimed it was the first time and that she was "being lazy".    

When returning the magistrates' verdict, the chair of the bench, said: "Your car was clearly parked in a disabled bay without (your daughter) being present. This is a serious offence, you shouldn't be using a Blue Badge in this way." 

Fahima, of York Avenue, Hayes, was fined £1,000, ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £400 and the council's costs of £7,000. 

Cllr Martin Goddard, Hillingdon Council's Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation, said: "Blue Badge misuse impacts some of our most vulnerable residents and visitors. Anyone who fraudulently uses one is preventing those with legitimate health conditions and disabilities from parking within easy access to the local businesses and services they rely on.  

"I thank our counter fraud, parking enforcement and legal officers for their work on this case which demonstrates we'll do everything we can to take the strongest course of action against those who flout the law." 

You can report suspected Blue Badge misuse anonymously at www.hillingdon.gov.uk/report-fraud.