DEFINITION OF PARKING

GOTCHA PARKING SERVICES v BIGOT-JOHNSON (2018)

Bigot had recently purchased a radio controlled car which he drove into a nearby shopping precinct car park run by Gotcha Parking Services. Naturally it seemed sensible to park up in the centre of an available bay , where the risk of being crushed by another much larger vehicle was extremely low. True to form the parking company issued Bigot ( the owner and keeper of the vehicle ) with a PCN for failing to buy a ticket. Bigot ignored the demand but not the opportunity to appear in court.

Council for the plaintiff (CP) : The photographic evidence clearly shows Bigot's vehicle parked up in a bay. Moreover it was an electric battery-powered motor which the driver had ......by his own admission....... guided into and out of the car park. Despite its extremely small size it took up a valuable parking space depriving other motorists from accessing this bay during a very busy shopping period . A ticket had not been purchased .......a clear breach of the company's terms and conditions.

B-J : Firstly, your Honour......the car park was only half full. Secondly, it was not restricting other motorists from using this bay. Thirdly...... " parking "... as I understand it..... means there must be a driver inside the car in order to vacate it in pursuit of a task outside the vehicle , which was the purpose of the visit. But in my case the radio controlled car was merely waiting a few minutes while I decided what its next manoeuvres were going to be.

CP : The car had parked up in a bay .....

B-J : Not so.....just like taxi drivers who enter and exit the site they simply stop for a few minutes so people can be dropped off or collected. They are not parking their vehicles.....they are just waiting around for a few minutes before starting off on a new call and another journey. My vehicle too was in the process of waiting up before continuing its next journey.

Judge : And what journey was that ?

B-J :  A visit to other car parks and to wait up one of their empty bays.

Judge : And did you receive any more PCNs ?

B-J : Sack loads......none of which I intend to pay

Judge : Quite right......bringing this type of claim is an outrage taking up precious court time. No loss has been incurred whatsoever, The demand for money therefore is both vindictive and extortionate. Judgement for the defendant. 

INCORRECT CAR REGISTRATION
  
EXCEL AT SCAMMING v BIGOT-JOHNSON (2018)

Bigot had decided once again to push Excel into taking him to court so that he could flag up another successful defence for other motorists to use when scammed for entering incorrect car registration details into the ticket machine. His efforts were not in vain.

B-J :  Do you accept that I made a mistake by entering the registration details of my other car ?
Excel : You sure did........that's how we tracked down your address 
B-J :  So you sent me a PCN was claiming I had an invalid ticket for the car I parked up ?
Excel : You sure did and that's why we're out to shaft you good and proper
B-J :  And this invalid ticket was non-transferable and could not be used for any other car including the one I arrived in
Excel : Correct.....
B-J : But surely the ticket I bought was valid for the car I had left at home ?
Excel : Yes ....of course......but that wasn't the car you used to park up
B-J : I agree......but the reality is that no ticket had been purchased for the car I arrived in
Excel :  No......I guess not......... your ticket was invalid
B-J : Oh......  but I thought we had established that the ticket I purchased was valid for the car I left at home....and that I failed to buy a ticket for the car I used to park up ...... which means your claim against me needed to be based on non-payment...... rather than this nonsense of having an invalid ticket 
Excel : But the ticket was invalid for the car caught on camera
B-J : No the ticket was valid for some other car......the car on the camera was not paid for and therefore I parked up without a ticket.......but since I had paid money for a car which hadn't used up a bay..... that income more than covered the non-payment......so all in all my transgression never cost Excel at penny
Judge : Nice argument.....which I feel obliged to accept if only on the grounds of natural justice . Case dismissed
Excel : This is not on.....Bigot's actions need to be penalised
Judge : As I see it the purpose of your parking terms and conditions on motorists should not be to penalise those who make genuine mistakes. The purpose ought to be to stop motorists from undermining the effective management of a busy car park in order to maximise the use of limited spaces , and to secure the full tariff revenue for periods of time motorists have stayed. It is obvious to any parking company that many people will continue to make genuine errors regarding their vehicle registrations. Discretion needs to be applied. 
To make Bigot pay a penalty charge in addition to the payment he had already made is absurdly repugnant to both common sense and natural justice.