A soap actress single mum has been left fuming after parking wardens slapped her with what escalated to a £412 fine – while her four-year-old son was in hospital.
Frantic Sakinah Maynard - who has had roles in Emmerdale and Corrie - parked up on a single yellow line as she rushed her little boy Ramel to Manchester Royal Infirmary after he swallowed his grandmother's schizophrenia medication.
It was 10.30 at night when Sakinah raced Ramel for medical attention, and she did not realise that parking restrictions would begin again at 8am the following morning – at which time little Ramel was in his hospital bed as doctors monitored his heart.
When Sakinah returned to her car at 10am, she found that a council parking warden had issued her with a ticket.
The 32-year-old from Burnage, Manchester, made three written appeals against the fine, but all were unsuccessful.
The case ended up in court where bailiffs and court fees eventually escalated the original fine of £112 to a whopping £412.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Sakinah said she could not afford to pay the fine, and had simply parked in the first spot she could find on the night she rushed her child to hospital.
"Ramel was getting really sleepy so I was in a panic. I wasn't thinking about my car at all," she said. "In those situations all you are thinking about is the welfare of your child. I appealed and I couldn't believe it when they rejected it, so I just carried on. Now it's come to court and there's no way I can afford to pay."
A spokesman for Manchester City Council said that they 'recognise the stressful circumstances that contributed to the parking offence in this case' but insisted they had given Sakinah 'three separate opportunities over a period of months to pay the initial £35 fine'.
They also said that the mum had had 'reasonable opportunity to move her vehicle during the 12 hours that it was parked'.
However, they have now backed down and agreed that as a 'gesture of goodwill' they will reduce Sakinah's fine back down to the original £112.
"This amount covers the further costs to the taxpayer that have been incurred as a result of the prolonged process involved," the council said.