Friday
28Sep
JUDGE THE MAYOR!
Friday, September 28, 2007 at 09:38PM Wonder what YOU make of this story?
A Mayor was under fire today for parking a luxury sports car in a disabled parking bay while...WAIT FOR IT.... he was attending a Special Olympics event!
Newtownabbey Mayor Nigel Hamilton, who does not possess a blue parking badge, left the silver Chrysler Crossfire at the council's Mossley Mill headquarters for more than 12 hours in a spot clearly reserved for disabled drivers. And, despite his actions being criticised by the disabled rights group Disability Action, the DUP councillor has refused to apologise, saying he did not intentionally park in a disabled bay but had simply followed the advice of a security guard who advised him to leave his car there.
So, is he guilty of thoughtlessness, or of hypocrisy? Was he only following orders? Is this what the DUP has become reduced to? He appears to feel that he is a man more sinned against then sinning but is he right?
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Reader Comments (7)
Did he win his event?
No - Paisley came first in the 100 metre back flip.
LOL. And the back flip to boot!
Iwonder will the security guard back him on this? If he does he is in the wrong. Most security are pretty tight on who parks in disabled bays. He ought to be brought to book for it.
On the other hand having hepatatis C does not qualify for parking in a disabled bay, if he wishes to do so then he needs to register as disabled and recieve a blue badge. Whether he is hurt or not is not the issue, but its the arrogance that rattles.
Yes, it is arrogance and the DUP are full of it.
He must be mental to leave a flashy car like that at Mossley Mill overnight to begin with.
On another point, I was sitting in the carpark the other week in Tesco, opposite the disabled parking rank. The number of sprightly drivers whizzing into spaces in brand new cars was quite startling. Few looked in any way discomforted, blue badges on display or not.
I'm not defending him at all...but people should remember that not all disabled drivers have disabled badges.
You want to try getting a disabled badge...its not easy.