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Victim of 'vendetta' has 13 tickets overturned
By David Williams, Evening Standard Last updated at 00:00am on 25.05.05A businessman who was given 13 parking tickets in a "vendetta" against him by attendants has had them overturned.
Yakub Ali faced a bill of £1,000 for the fines but took on Newham council - and won.
He proved his car was elsewhere each time wardens claimed it was parked at bus stops or on double yellow lines. Today Mr Ali, who owns a dairy business, said he feared for his sanity as the tickets mounted up over six weeks.
The first £80 ticket was issued on 21 August last year, accusing the 49-year-old father of five of leaving his car at a bus stop in Newham. He became so worried that he and his family mounted a virtual round-the-clock watch on his Mercedes at his home in Manor Park. Mr Ali managed to get five of the tickets rejected by Newham after an internal investigation revealed "errors" in its wardens' notebooks.
But the council still pursued him over eight outstanding fines.
Now the London Parking and Traffic Appeals Service adjudicator has ordered Newham to throw out the remaining fines. He said that Mr Ali was a "credible witness" and he had concerns over the veracity of the attendants involved in the inquiry.
Parking campaigner Barrie Segal, who represented Mr Ali at the tribunal, said the bogus tickets had been a "dreadful" experience for his client.
A spokesman for Newham council said: "We are looking into new ways of gathering evidence which will help to avoid cases like this in future."
