A driver forged fake delivery notes to try and avoid paying for 11 parking fines. James Barford, 34, was fined £2,200 for his crimes when he could have paid just £385 for the initial parking charges, reports Leicestershire Live.
Leicester Magistrates Court heard that the 34-year-old had accumulated several charges for parking illegally in a loading bay and a residents’ parking zone near his place of employment. In response to the charges, Barford forged six fake delivery notes to challenge the fines.
The 34-year-old then was caught parking in a permit-only residential area in the outskirts of Leicester city centre and charged once again. He then faked another five delivery notes in an attempt to dodge paying the fines.
An investigation by Leicester City Council discovered that Barford had claimed to be making deliveries for business and customers on behalf of a company called JB Designs LTD. The organisation he claimed to be working for is not registered with Companies House.
Barford had also claimed to be working for Pivotal Retail Marketing on another delivery note, but the deliveries were nothing to do with them. When quizzed on his fake notes in an interview the driver eventually relinquished his stance and admitted to fabricating them in order to avoid fines.
The 34-year-old suggested that he had done this due to the fact that was facing financial difficulties. In court, Barford pleaded guilty to 11 charges under the Fraud Act for making the false documents.
Leicester deputy city mayor with responsibility for regulatory services, Councillor Piara Singh Clair, said: “The defendant was repeatedly parking illegally in areas close to his work and when he was caught out, he faked documents to make it look like he was making deliveries. Not only was he trying to avoid paying for parking, but also providing fake invoices to try to dodge paying the parking fines he’d incurred.
"That is quite simply fraud. Offences under the Fraud Act are very serious offences with the potential outcome of a prison sentence.
"The defendant has now had to pay far more money than the fines themselves in the costs, fines and compensation resulting from this successful prosecution.”
Barford was fined £846 for fabricating delivery notes, and charged a further £677 in costs, £630 in compensation and also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £85, totalling £2,200.
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