Sandwell care manager prosecuted for misuse of blue badge
A healthcare manager has been prosecuted after using a blue badge on her own 4x4 when she went shopping.
Marta Arriku, a general manager for Camino Healthcare which has care homes in Tipton and West Bromwich, pleaded guilty to the misuse of a blue badge under the Road Traffic Regulation Act.
Arriku, aged 35, of Herschel Crescent, Oxford, appeared before Wolverhampton magistrates where she was given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay costs of £1,121.60.
The court heard Camino Healthcare had two organisational blue badges registered to one of the company's Mercedes and only for use if the vehicle was being used to transport a disabled person.
Magistrates were told Arriku and her husband – who faced no charges – were using their own Range Rover and parked it at a Sainsbury’s store in Heyford Hill, Oxford.
Her husband was driving and he parked the car in a disabled bay.
Arriku then displayed one of the care home’s blue badges which she had taken with her.
A member of the public saw the defendant, her husband and child leave the vehicle but none had mobility problems and so reported them to Sandwell Council.
On August 31, the court heard Arriku was the general manager of Camino Healthcare and had been employed by the organisation for the past two-and-a-half years and was aware the badge should not be used in an alternative vehicle, such as her own car.
