Royal Australian Navy veteran and Riverton RSL member Ian Leith Raymond got more than he bargained for during a recent trip into Perth’s CBD.
Mr Raymond, 94, has been a warden at the Riverton RSL since the early 1980s, and an RSL member for almost 70 years.
Last year saw Mr Raymond receive an RSL Australia life membership for his dedication and community spirit.
Mr Raymond became ill earlier this year, and has since been hospitalised on multiple occasions.
On January 21, he drove to Royal Perth Hospital and parked his car in a bay outside of the main entrance – set aside for disabled drivers.
The 94-year-old put up his ACROD sticker, before going inside the hospital for a couple of hours.
Mr Raymond had parked in a ‘1P’ bay, which he later realised stood for ‘one-hour parking’.
The mistake led to him being given a $60 parking fine.
He wrote a letter to the City of Perth, admitting to the offence and apologising for the error.
Mr Raymond pleaded for the city to withdraw the fine and instead issue a caution, on compassionate grounds.
The city sent a reminder notice to Mr Raymond, followed up by an official response to his request.
The response, from the city’s Legal Compliance and Infringement Services team, stated that “financial hardship” was not an acceptable reason to withdraw the fine.
Mr Raymond’s friends – including Riverton RSL president Bill Collidge – expressed outraged over the decision, and agreed to pay the fine.
After some further correspondence back and forth, the city agreed to withdraw the fine and issue a warning instead.
“The city has a comprehensive process to consider requests to review or cancel parking infringements and is duty bound to act fairly and without bias,” a city spokesperson said.
“The city has reviewed this case and is pleased to advise that we agree that a compassionate outcome would be beneficial in this instance.
“We will withdraw the infringement and record a ‘caution’ in its place.”
