A man was caught on a London street using a fake Blue Badge that belonged to a dead person
Man found using a fake Blue Badge of a 74-year-old who’d died a month earlier
Credit: Article from My London – 5th February 2019
Image: Specialist enforcements teams are being employed by councils to tackle Blue Badge fraud across the UK.
A man has been convicted of fraud after being caught using a fake Blue Badge that had been photocopied from a real one belonging to a dead person.
That person had died just a month earlier.
Ponciano Dela Rosa, 48, of Bell Lane, Hendon, was caught with the fake badge after a parking officer noted his car parked in a disabled parking bay in Lincoln Street, Chelsea , on May 21, 2018.
The Kensington & Chelsea officer suspected the badge was fake, and when he looked it up, discovered it had actually been issued to a 74-year-old from Camden who had died a month earlier, a council statement said.
When Dela Rosa returned to his car the officer confiscated the badge, which later turned out to be a photocopy of the original.
When questioned later, he admitted to displaying the fake badge and claimed to have been a driver for the 74-year-old before they died, the council said.
The council said Dela Rosa plead guilty at his initial hearing in January, but the judge requested that he see a probation officer and the matter was adjourned for sentencing later in the month.
Caption: Hundreds of fake Blue Badges are seized every year. Councils are employing specialist teams to crack down on Blue Badge fraud and take perpetrators to court.
He was sentenced by a Westminster Magistrates Court judge to a two-month 9pm-6am curfew due to his remorse and so he could continue working six days a week.
Kensington & Chelsea finance leader Cllr Mary Weale said: “It is a particularly egregious offence to steal a potential parking space from someone in genuine need.
“We are determined to tackle people pretending to have blue badges and I hope this case sends out a clear message that we will take action whenever we discover this abuse taking place.”
View full article on My London
