Ccj and defence

Fruitcake

I think this is the first time you have mentioned breastfeeding a baby.

A breastfeeding mother of an infant under the age of six months is protected by the provisions of the Equality Act 2010. You should include this in your WS, and state that the PPC were aware of this at the time you appealed, but have failed to make reasonable adjustments in breach of the above Act.

shortysky

I think I mentioned something a while back as I was gave some advice about this last time. I just don’t know how to word it and fit it in with the WS I’m going to revamp and change the whole WS and just do numbers for each reason, and how it all paned out. What does that act mean like can it help defend my case? 

Fruitcake

I suggest you put mention the following numbered points in your WS, adjusting it to say whatever is correct.

On X date and time I pulled into a service road and parked outside a Pizza Express restaurant on Woodford Road, Stockport, to breast feed my 2 month old child, then buy food from the restaurant.
Either say that there were no entrance signs, or no entrance signs were seen on the service road, whichever is true, and/or that it was dark, and no signs were illuminated. 
State that there were no signs/no signs were seen on the restaurant door or inside indicating that payment for parking was required. No staff brought the requirement to pay for parking to your attention.

On Y date I received a Notice to Keeper (NTK), see claimant's Exhibit ????, for an alleged parking event on land at 34 - 38 Woodford Road, Stockport. I appealed on Z date, stating that I am a mother who was breastfeeding an infant under the age of six months, and that I was also a patron of the Pizza Express restaurant.
It should be noted that this specific restaurant is located at number 32, Woodford Road, Stockport, which is outside the area stated on the NTK.
See Exhibit SS 1, (where SS are your initials) an extract from the restaurant's website, clearly showing the address as number 32. (Or use an advert, flyer, map etcetera. Anything that shows the name of the restaurant and it's street address.)

My appeal was rejected and I later received a court claim. The Particulars of Claim (PoC) were vague, stating only that it was for an alleged parking event on land at Woodford Road, Stockport. It should be noted that this road is approximately six miles long, and has several car parks serving various businesses and residential properties along its length. 
The PoC failed to define where the alleged event had taken place.

The Equality Act 2010 prohibits direct and indirect discrimination against a person who has protected characteristics within the meaning of the Act.
Section ? para ?? of the Act states that reasonable adjustments must be made for a person who is breastfeeding an infant under 6 months of age.
At the time of the alleged event, I was breastfeeding a two month old child. Failing to allow for this eventuality is indirect discrimination, and a breach of the Act
Once the claimant was aware at the point of my appeal that I was breastfeeding an infant, they failed to make reasonable adjustments which thereafter constitutes direct discrimination, and a breach of the Act.
It took approximately an hour to breastfeed my child, including the obvious requirements for hygiene that goes with it, and a reasonable adjustment in that instance would have been to extend the permitted grace period before a parking event occurred for this amount of time.
The claimant has failed to allow the extra time needed for breastfeeding to be carried out, and has therefore committed direct discrimination against me for not making reasonable adjustments.

Use photos/GSV images to show the inadequate entrance signs, the location of the pizza place, and state that the claimant has provided no images of the car parked to support their claim.

1505grandad

As above.

If you Google "Equality Act 2010 breast feeding" it will show several organisations dealing with this (which may be of interest) and also a Government link (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/17?view=plain) which will take you direct to the relevant section of the Act (17).

shortysky

Thank you so much. So the point I’m making are lack of visuals signs in dark conditions, unnoticeable and small. And the fact I was breastfeeding, you say about the claimant failing to allow extra time? But there was no ticket to begin with. Does this matter if I state that part in the WS? 

shortysky

is this the act i have to put in 17 para 4 The reference in subsection (3) to treating a woman unfavourably because she has given birth includes, in particular, a reference to treating her unfavourably because she is breast-feeding.?

shortysky

so this is what i have changed and up to so far, do i need to add more things about the lack of signage, also i has seen other people who have appealed with this car park with other things, such as permission to have the PCN cameras and also how the yellow lines on the road go into the private road from the main road. do these things matter or are they worth stating? 

WITNESS STATEMENT OF DEFENDANT

 

 

1.         I am XXXX of XXXX and I am the Defendant against whom this claim is made. The facts are true to the best of my belief and my account has been prepared based upon my own knowledge.

2.         In my statement I shall refer to exhibits within the evidence supplied with this statement, referring to page and reference numbers where appropriate. My defence is repeated, and I will say as follows:

Sequence of events and signage:

3.         On 9th December 2019 at 5.59 I pulled into a service road and parked outside a Pizza Express restaurant on Woodford Road, Stockport, to breast feed my 2-month-old child, then buy food from the restaurant whilst I calmed down, to continue to drive safely. On entering the street, I did not see no signs about park. There were no illuminated or obvious signs on entering. Once in pizza express no staff brought the parking requirement to my attention.

4.         On the 13th of December 2019I received a Notice to Keeper (NTK), see claimant's Exhibit ????, for an alleged parking event on land at 34 - 38 Woodford Road, Stockport. I appealed on the 18th of December 2019, stating that I am a mother who was breastfeeding an infant under the age of six months, and that I was also a patron of the Pizza Express restaurant.
It should be noted that this specific restaurant is located at number 32, Woodford Road, Stockport, which is outside the area stated on the notice to keeper.
See Exhibit CD1

5.         On the 18th of December 2019 I sent in an appeal to explain I pulled in to breastfeed and seen no signage, till after I got the PCN and went to observe the signs I missed. This was instantly rejected. I was going to appeal to POPLA with more evidence after id done some work on this appeal. But unfortunately became ill and then moved home.

 I later received a court claim. The Particulars of Claim were vague, stating only that it was for an alleged parking event on land at Woodford Road, Stockport. It should be noted that this road is approximately six miles long and has several car parks serving various businesses and residential properties along its length. 
The POC failed to define where the alleged event had taken place.

 

6.         The Equality Act 2010 prohibits direct and indirect discrimination against a person who has protected characteristics within the meaning of the Act.
Section 17 para 4 of the Act states that reasonable adjustments must be made for a person who is breastfeeding an infant under 6 months of age.
At the time of the alleged event, I was breastfeeding a two-month-old child. Failing to allow for this eventuality is indirect discrimination, and a breach of the Act.
Once the claimant was aware at the point of my appeal that I was breastfeeding an infant, they failed to make reasonable adjustments which thereafter constitutes direct discrimination, and a breach of the Act.
It took approximately just over an hour to breastfeed my child, including the obvious requirements for hygiene that goes with it, and a reasonable adjustment in that instance would have been to extend the permitted grace period before a parking event occurred for this amount of time.
The claimant has failed to allow the extra time needed for breastfeeding to be carried out, and has therefore committed direct discrimination against me for not making reasonable adjustments.

shortysky

meant to say ANPR camera not pcn

shortysky

should i add or leave out codes of practice for private parking or should i leave all this out. any help woukld be great so i can get this sent off thank you.

Insignificant signage

7.      As stated in the British Parking Association Code of Practice.

a)       You may use ANPR camera technology to manage, control and enforce parking in private car parks, as long as you do this in a reasonable, consistent and transparent manner. Your signs at the car park must tell drivers that you are using this technology and what you will use the data captured by ANPR cameras for

b)      Entrance signs, located at the entrance to the car park, must tell drivers that the car park is managed and that there are terms and conditions which they must be aware of. Entrance signs must meet minimum general principles and be in a standard format. The size of the sign must take into account the expected speed of vehicles approaching the car park and follow Department for Transport guidance. Industry-accepted sign designs and guidance on how to use the signs are in Appendix B

 

c)       Specific parking terms signage tells drivers what your terms and conditions are, including your parking charges. You must place signs containing the specific parking terms throughout the site, so that drivers are given the chance to read them at the time of parking or leaving their vehicle. Keep a record of where all the signs are. Signs must be conspicuous and legible, and written in intelligible language, so that they are easy to see, read and understand. Signs showing your detailed terms and conditions must be at least 450mm x 450 mm.

Fruitcake

Include anything that you believe helps your case, such as inadequate signage supported by photos. This forces the claimant to prove the opposite is true. 

Obviously you will need to include their exhibit number in your WS.