Cardiff: Disabled pensioner refuses to pay £100 fine for parking 'one inch' outside bay

A disabled pensioner said she feels "victimised" and would prefer to go to prison rather than pay a £100 parking fine after she parked her car "one inch" outside of a bay.

Amal Bafaqih, 85, parked in the Cardiff Bay Retail Park earlier this year.

Letters sent to her on why she was being fined showed the car touching a yellow box next to the parking bay.

She said it has left her feeling "angry, sick and disappointed" and has said she will not pay the fine.

Ms Bafaqih, who has lived in Cardiff since 1981, fears the same could be happening to other elderly and disabled people. Credit: Media Wales

The retired psychiatric nurse is disabled and owns a Blue Badge.

She said after unsuccessful appeals, the outstanding debt has since escalated to £170 but she has vowed to fight the matter in court.

The pensioner claims her car was not blocking traffic nor the adjacent parking bays.

Ms Bafaqih recalled that she was shopping for groceries in the retail park on the day in question and estimated she was only there for about 20 minutes.

Letters sent to her showed the car touching a yellow box, next to the parking bay. Credit: Media Wales

When she got back to her car, she saw the fine stuck to her windscreen.

She claims until that point she did not realise she had not parked correctly within the bay and unsuccessfully tried to challenge the enforcement officer who had issued the fine.

Two days later, she received a letter in the post from UK Parking Control that said she had been fined £100 and that the fine would be reduced to £60 if she paid it within 14 days.

After refusing to pay it and unsuccessfully appealing several times, Ms Bafaqih has received several letters from UK Parking Control and debt recovery agencies.

Ms Bafaqih has insisted she is not paying the fine and will continue to challenge it. Credit: Media Wales

"It's ridiculous. It's really ridiculous. For one inch of the road - why?" she said.

"Just nearly an inch or maybe less - and [they are] victimising me for £100. I haven't blocked the second car beside me.

"Yes, fair enough, I shouldn't go on the yellow line - but it is just an inch.

"And every driver is not going to carry a tape measure, get out of the car, and measure the distance between you and the yellow line. That's ridiculous."

"There is no reason for this nonsense. I'm too old to fight back - I'm 85, I'm not young anymore.

"85, sick, I'm diabetic, I have Crohn's - I have too many things, too many disabilities, arthritis. I feel anger, and I have very high blood pressure."

Ms Bafaqih added that she struggles to walk due to her back aching after a spinal operation in June and is waiting for an operation to get a new knee.

"So I'm really kaput. I'm really surviving – not living, surviving," she said.

She claimed she had even given her medical records to be considered as part of her appeals. "They didn't care. They don't care a hoot. I am victimised."

Ms Bafaqih, who has lived in Cardiff since 1981, fears the same could happen to other elderly and disabled people.

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"I want all the disabled people to know what will happen to them if they fall into the same trap," she said.

"This has to go on paper for everybody to see, everybody to know. Because I've been quiet for too long."

She has insisted she is not paying the fine and will continue to challenge it.

“I’m asking them to take me to court.

"If [the judge] doesn’t accept my plea, put me into prison. That's fine. It’s up to him... Free board and lodging."

ITV News has approached UK Parking Control for comment.

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