Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi All,
Wonder if you can help with this one:
1. Parked in a residents bay with BB but one half of it (the main half not clock half) must have fallen from the dashboard as i shut the car door.
2. Was gone from car for maybe 5 mins to offload shopping and elderly, disabled relative who takes several minutes just to get settled and PCN already there when arriving to put shopping bag back in car minutes later.
3. Although the PCN states 10:32 to 10:39 i.e. 7 minutes, the photos provided only show 10:39 and 10:40 so is it possible the warden only observed for 1 min and not 7 mins? it felt as if I was only away from the car for 5 mins (but i wasnt counting).
4. is there a reasonable amount of time they need to give a BB holder, because for someone with restricted mobility it is not unreasonable to take a much longer time to transfer from car to house.
5. Other info to note is that i did write to the council a long time ago about replacing the blue holder for the badge as it had become disintegrated over time, but they never replied. The reason it was 2 halves is because the holder had broken in half. Had it been replaced, this may not have happened.
6. I previously had a PCN cancelled many many years ago for badge falling off (but that was the whole badge not half of it) so maybe this counts against me. But equally the last PCN i had cancelled was them issuing an illegal PCN and then apologising to me so don't know if i can use this in my favour or you cant conflate different PCNs.

Anyway the summary is yes it was a mistake, but wanted your expert opinion on whether it was worth an appeal or not.

I dont understand why they cant just have electronic records of BB holders like they did with road tax discs instead of penalising BB holders for genuine mistakes when they already have on record if a car is BB registered.

Any expert advice would be appreciated.

thank you.

PCN here:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/raiuh8ac0h0848ap9lklf/ADzsA7su5XB6-OjZJW7ir_U?rlkey=tmpa21fgivlt7u60u9qsrtbex&st=lb0x33vx&dl=0

it is my fathers BB (he doesnt drive), i was driving him home and only left the car to offload him and his shopping.
You can say its his responsibility re the holder but he is cognitively impaired and therefore could no way have done this himself. in any case theres little that can e done if they just ignore you.
in the reps should i mention they never replied about replacing it or will that only irritate them?
the v5 etc is correct

There are only four pics and none looking for the badge inside - did it fall on the floor or seat? And how?

The PCN is your responsibility as owner but if your father had say knocked it off getting out then that would be  factor. We had a case recently where I think a disabled person insisted on setting the clock (wrongly).

They must consider any challenge and especially one with a BB.

You do have three written off though.

Send a polite challenge saying what you think happened and include a pic of the BB, saying this was an accident and you were entitled to park there.*
Emphasise that with a disabled person ensuring their wellbeing led to overlooking the accident with the BB. 
Say if the CEO had checked the side window he may well have seen the fallen BB.

*I'm assuming that in Harrow BB holders can park in resident bays? Was this a permit only bay or a shared use bay (permit and pay/display)?

Thank you all for your responses. I have been parking there frequently for over 5 years with a BB and it has been fine. The traffic warden himself said its ok for BB holders to park there so i guess there must be provision.

I accept that it was a mistake but with strong mitigation. so basically you are saying they can use their discretion but it isnt a proper defence to proceed to tribunal for example?

To answer the earlier question.

The Harrow website suggests that parking in the Residents' bays is allowed where a Blue Badge is displayed. This is not unique to Harrow. Some London Boroughs allow BB parking and some don't.

"When can I park in a CPZ
..........................

Do you need a parking permit?
A parking permit is not required for:

vehicles displaying a Blue Badge
motorcycles parked in either pay-and-display bays or in resident bays.
If you have three or more unpaid Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs), you can't get a parking permit. This applies to both Resident and Business permits.
.........................."

a few tweaks - I wouldn't go into detail on the BB holder

I had parked at this location for 5-10mins only to drop-off my disabled father at his home and was entitled to park there owing to the exemption of transporting a Blue Badge holder (BB enclosed), which I checked was displayed on the dash.

However, as my father is physically and cognitively impaired, he needs assistance offloading the car and into the house and I recall him leaning in to get his walking stick and dragging it along dash and seat to exit the car. I was focusing on my father's wellbeing (he has restricted mobility and is a falls risk-medical evidence enclosed) and assisting him into the house, upon my return I realised one half of the BB (the blue holder had disintegrated and it had therefore separated into 2 halves) had fallen to the passenger side footwell and I already had a PCN!

If the CEO had checked the side window he may well have seen the fallen BB (I don't see any side photos).
Under the circumstances, please could you consider discretion since it is clear we were entitled to the exemption.

Thank you stamfordman and John - actually he does need quite a lot of assistance offloading but i take your point hes not an elephant - maybe alighting is a better word 

actually youve raised an important point - out of curiousity does such an exemption exist for loading/assisting elderly in residents bays without a BB - what do you do if you need to get someone to their home and they need assistance and there is no parking provision?

i.e. are there circumstances where you would have been allowed to offload/alight even without a BB in a residents bay?
interestingly that whole road used to be free - he has lived there for 60 years, they just made it permit only from 10am-11am to stop people leaving cars there and going to work on the tube. Now its silly things like this residents are being punished for.