Gran with a 4mph mobility scooter accused of speeding
A DISABLED grandmother who traded in her car for a 4mph mobility scooter faced court action and bailiffs for speeding and illegal parking.
Joan Johnson, 87, sold her Ford Focus to a garage for £550 in October 2014 and put the money towards a £700 mobility vehicle.
But later that year she received the first of 12 parking and speeding fines totalling more than £1,000 for offences in Leicester.
The retired council worker from Mickleover, near Derby, kept the bill of sale and notified the DVLA. But in January she received a summons from Derby magistrates court. She submitted her documents to a magistrate who wrote to Leicester magistrates’ court on her behalf.
But the widowed motherof-two received a letter from a debt recovery agency saying that unless she paid the fine bailiffs would seize goods at her house last Saturday.
Yesterday Joan, whose husband Frank, 83, died of Parkinson’s disease in 1998, compared her ordeal to something “out of Monty Python”. She said: “It has been a nightmare but the last straw was when I received a letter from the bailiffs Collectica.
“What happened to me was disgusting. I was very worried by the prospect of the bailiffs coming to my home.
“Leicester magistrates court ignored all my letters by recorded delivery. Think of the money and time wasted on this. It’s ridiculous.
“We just could not get the court to accept that I had sold my Ford Focus car in October 2014. There were speeding and parking offences in Leicester after that date by the driver of the vehicle, but I haven’t been to Leicester for 30 years.
“The man who bought the car gave a false name and address which is why they couldn’t find him. I hope he’s caught soon before he hurts someone.”
HM Courts and Tribunals Service said: “All action in this case has been cancelled. The court has spoken to Mrs Johnson to confirm that and to apologise.” Joan Johnson yesterday who said her ordeal was like “something out of Monty Python” after she was threatened with bailiffs over fines