Eight face disabled parking charges

Nov 28 2012

Eight people have been charged with fraud offences during a crackdown on the misuse of disabled parking badges.

Police and council officials in Edinburgh identified five men and three women who had allegedly displayed badges in their cars that did not belong to them.

A blue disabled parking badge entitles the owner to park in marked disabled spaces in areas where parking is not normally permitted and parking without payment in pay and display spaces.

The men, aged 33, 37, 48, 53 and 54, and the women, aged 39, 49 and 63, have been reported to the procurator fiscal and will appear in court at a later date, Lothian and Borders Police said.

The crackdown was staged on Monday and Tuesday of this week.

Sergeant Kevin Rafferty said: "The use of a blue disabled parking badge is exclusively for those with a registered disability.

"However, we have observed a number of people utilising these passes for their own personal purposes. We have also gathered further intelligence, which will be followed up by our colleagues at the council and may result in further charges in the near future.

"Displaying a stolen badge or utilising one if you are not registered disabled is a crime and we will continue to work alongside our partners to bring anyone responsible to account for their actions."

Councillor Lesley Hinds said: "The charging of these eight individuals is a very satisfying conclusion to many months of painstaking investigation and intelligence-gathering by the council's dedicated fraud prevention officer.

"Most blue badges are used correctly but sadly there is still a small minority of individuals who seem to believe that the law doesn't apply to them."