A man has been convicted of fraud after being caught using a fake Blue Badge that had been photocopied from a real one belonging to a dead person.

That person had died just a month earlier.

Ponciano Dela Rosa, 48, of Bell Lane, Hendon, was caught with the fake badge after a parking officer noted his car parked in a disabled parking bay in Lincoln Street, Chelsea , on May 21, 2018.

The Kensington & Chelsea officer suspected the badge was fake, and when he looked it up, discovered it had actually been issued to a 74-year-old from Camden who had died a month earlier, a council statement said.

When Dela Rosa returned to his car the officer confiscated the badge, which later turned out to be a photocopy of the original.

When questioned later, he admitted to displaying the fake badge and claimed to have been a driver for the 74-year-old before they died, the council said.

The council said Dela Rosa plead guilty at his initial hearing in January, but the judge requested that he see a probation officer and the matter was adjourned for sentencing later in the month.

He was sentenced by a Westminster Magistrates Court judge to a two-month 9pm-6am curfew due to his remorse and so he could continue working six days a week.

Kensington & Chelsea finance leader Cllr Mary Weale said: "It is a particularly egregious offence to steal a potential parking space from someone in genuine need.
