CU75 unnecessary obstruction

garichd

Last week I got a Fixed Penalty Notice for unnecessary obstruction. I went to “Sunday Car Boot “ and parked on the road, I was 1/2 parked on the pavement , there was lot of other cars parked the same way, upon return there was only couple of cars were there and only my car had ticket on the windshield.
There were no yellow lines or parking restrictions on the road. The Offence code issues by Thames Valley Police was CU75 “unnecessary obstruction "; the rank of the officer was PCSO.

The notice says I have 28 days to pay or to go to court. I am just wondering why do they not have in-house appeal system and if I go to court then will I be liable to court fee as well if my appeal is not successful?
Also, Have I got grounds to appeal or should I just pay the fine for a hassle-free life?

sarahg1969

If you go to court and lose, you'll have to pay costs plus a victim surcharge. Unless you have good evidence that you were not causing the obstruction, it's probably one to pay.

Aretnap

Basically the court is the in house appeals system. The FPN is essentially an offer not to prosecute you for the alleged offence in return for payment of a token sum, albeit an offer which you're deemed to have accepted if you don't actively reject it. If you took it to court you'd be risking a larger fine for the offence itself (off the top of my head a maximum of £1000, in practice probably about half your weekly income), court costs (the CPS will ask for £620 for a summary trial, which they may or may not get for such a simple case) and victim surcharge (£15). So for the sake of £30 I'd be inclined to pay unless you're in a position to risk a lot of money for a point of principle.

The majority of these tickets get issued because a concerned citizen/local busybody (delete according to preference) has complained to the local police about the way cars are being parked, and if you were half on the pavement then a decent case can usually be made that you were causing an obstruction - would a wheelchair or pram have been able to get past?

muckybutt

Fixed penalty notice from Police = Learn from your mistakes and dont do it again.

Cough up and chalk it down to experience unless you want a day in court and risk a bigger fine when you loose.

garichd

I am wondering why only my car was given a notice and none of the other cars..!

give_them_FA

They can be beaten, but they are very much the most difficult. If you were on the pavement then you are going to find it difficult to defend.

Perhaps the other cars were put there after the copper had gone.

System

garichd wrote: »

I am wondering why only my car was given a notice and none of the other cars..!

Maybe they parked there after the PCSO had walked around and possibly ticketed the cars that were originally there as well as yours

Gloomendoom

I got one of these years ago for parking on the grass verge on a remote road in the Lake District. It was in the middle of nowhere.

It cost me £25 thirty years ago so £30 today sounds like a bargain. Pay it and forget about it.

esmerobbo

garichd wrote: »

I am wondering why only my car was given a notice and none of the other cars..!

Were you near a bend or a junction as well as on the pavement/verge?

In all honesty the best bet is to accept it and pay up.

Stephen_Leak

Unless you took a photo', showing that you could've got a wheelchair or a double baby buggy through, then this one's a "fair cop".