Highland Council parking fine for Halkirk pensioner (79) who was busy caring for his dying wife when he stopped in Thurso for shopping
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A Caithness man was fined after his blue badge for disabled parking expired while caring for his dying wife.
John O'Donnell (79) was hit with the £30 charge after he went shopping in Thurso.
The pensioner had failed to notice that his parking permit had gone out of date as he had been preoccupied with looking after his partner Jeanette.
The pair had been married for 65 years.
Mr O'Donnell admitted he was in the wrong and paid up but has said the move showed a complete lack of understanding from Highland Council officials.
His wife died aged 80 years-old on May 20 after requiring 24 hour around the clock care due to a number of chronic illnesses including liver failure.
Mr O'Donnell, from Halkirk, retired to the area from England, and said he was getting around four hours of sleep each night while he was the primary carer for his wife.
He said: “During all this time I had neighbours who had been getting food for me and bits and pieces.
“So I'd hardly used the car.
“After she died and we had the cremation I thought I've got to go out and get some stuff for myself.
“I parked in my usual disabled spot in Thurso and when I came back I had a parking ticket.
“I couldn't understand it.
“I then checked my badge and there it was – it was out of date.
“Of course I'd hardly used my car as I was looking after my wife.”
Mr O'Donnell said he had tried to plead his innocence to council staff but that his appeal had fallen on deaf ears.
He said: “I wrote to the council to explain what had happened and to ask if there was any possibility that it could be cancelled.
“They wrote back and said we're sorry for your loss but you've got to pay the ticket.
“So I just paid it the next day.”
The ordeal has left him with a bitter taste in his mouth towards how the council carry out blanket parking ticket coverage.
But Highland Council say that the rules on expiry dates are clear.
Mr O'Donnell said: “There's no feelings there. I'm not a great fan of civil servants. I feel this shows they live in a world of their own.
“I'm eighty this autumn. I've got COPD and other medical conditions.
“The disabled badge makes a big difference especially in the winter when the wind and cold badly affects me.”
And he said it has been a bitter blow after losing his partner of so many years.
He said: “Jeanette and I were joined at the hip.
“We did everything together.”
Mr O'Donnell said if he was to be given a refund he would donate it to various animal charities that benefited from donations following his wife's death.
A Highland Council spokesman said: “It is not appropriate for us to comment on individual cases and peoples’ personal circumstances.
“The reasons for getting a Penalty Charge Notice are indicated by the contravention code on the penalty charge notice letting people know why they received it.
“These can include: 'Vehicle was parked in a disabled parking place without displaying a valid disabled blue badge.'”
