Brunel Bobby vows to crack down on fraudulent Blue Badge use at university

Police have vowed to crack down on the misuse of disabled Blue Badges at Brunel University.

The pledge comes after campus Bobby PC Barry Cilia revealed on social media that two students are currently under investigation for alleged misuse of the badges.

PC Cilia would not give further details about the specific cases, but warned: “You could end up with a criminal record with this dishonesty offence.”

He said: “We don’t want to criminalise people for being stupid, but it will be dealt with proportionally.”

The Disabled Student Officer at Brunel works to defend and extend the rights of disabled students within the Union and the university. The officer campaigns for the equality of all disabled students.

Sean Cullen, Disabled Students Officer (DSO) for the Students Union, said: “I am against the misuse of disabled bays, and I think that people should be educated to the impacts it causes to both the owner of the badge and the person that needs the badge.”

Hemma Smith, 21 of Law, said: “I am happy that Brunel is dealing with this, and I feel very sad for those who actually need a Blue Badge area.”

The University emphasises acts of fraud, such as altering, tampering, duplication or forging of permits in another person’s name will not be tolerated. Appropriate action will be taken against individuals found to have committed any such offence. This will also result in the immediate withdrawal of parking rights.

Under the Disabled Persons’ Parking Badges Act 2013 any local authority in England and Wales is entitled to recover/confiscate any Blue badge issued in England and Wales if it is believed that the Blue Badge is being misused or is fraudulent.