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Council chased blind 'driver' for £571 parking fine
Katharine Barney, Evening Standard20.11.08
A MAN was mistakenly hounded by bailiffs for a parking fine on a car that did not belong to him - and despite the fact that he is blind.
Mark White, 39, of Welling, Kent, was sent letters demanding £571.76 for a parking fine on a vehicle he never owned. He has been registered blind with Bexley council for four years and gave up his driving licence 15 years ago. But he was still forced to contact the DVLA and police to prove that his identity had been stolen and another person had registered the Ford Escort in his name two years ago. Despite this he was told by a council worker he could not be removed from their enquiries.
Mr White, an engineering student at Greenwich University, said: "It's unbelievable. How can I have a car? They don't seem to see me being blind as not being able to drive."
The council confirmed that no further action would be taken against Mr White after it was contacted by a local newspaper.
A council spokesman said: "Bexley has cancelled this ticket and halted any action by bailiffs. We apologise for the distress caused but we rely on the information provided to us by the DVLA. We will be writing to Mr White to confirm the issue has been dropped."
Reader views (12)
This problem could only happen in this mixed up country of ours.
- Stan White, leeds
this is not as bad as the tv license people charging a fee to blind people for having a tv.
- John Span, london
Yes - in future you will be required to prove that you didn't commit the crime that you are accused of.
To do so varies from quite hard to impossible.
"Guilty, until proven innocent" - that's the ancient British legal tradition. Isn't it?
- Andy, London, UK
The arrogance and high-handedness beggers belief. Fire the incompetant morons!
- Mark Horn, Bourne, Lincolnshire
Has anyone on the council lost their job?
Thought not.
- L.Taubler, London / UK
The Council were relying on information provided by the DVLA - presumably taken from a database. Same sort of concept as the ID card database that will supposedly solve all our problems...? Except with so much more information on it, the implications of this kind of mistake in the ID card scheme would be far more damaging.
- Adam, London, UK
Computer says nooooo!
Faceless people in a big brother society created by an insecure, incompetent, socialist government.
Not surprised.
- Frank, Home Counties, England
If now seems a prerequiste that to work for a council, either directly or indirectly, that you must have no common sense whatsoever. Yet another example of Great Britain becoming Little Britain!
- Michael, London
"We will be writing to Mr White to confirm the issue has been dropped".
He is blind.
- Jules, London, UK
how nice of bexley council to say that they have "cancelled and halted any action". err this is the council's error. exactly how incompetent is bexley council and why are they wasting taxpayers money in this way. if i was mr white i would be sending the bailiffs into bexley council. maybe the residents of bexley should stop paying their council tax. hit the council where it hurts: its the only thing that workds with local government.
- Josh, london
Yet again an example of a typical load of stupid council staff.
Only following procedures of course, in anoyther life theses same type of people would have been emtying the trains at the concentration camps.
After all right or wrong, they were "following" orders and procedures weren't they?
- P I Staker, London
It may be dropped by the council but it is my fervent hope that they are severely punished for this sort of incompetence and nastiness.
- Hugh E Torrance, London England
