Call him ‘Erin Brockovich’ if you will – Arthur Birch is better known to you as Australia’s Meanest Parking Cop – and he is on your side!!!! Arthur Birch was born in 1949, held no formal qualifications other than when he left St Marys High School in 1964, with the Year 10 equivalent of the School Certificate.
He joined the NSW Police Service in 1997 as a Parking Patrol Officer and thought he was going to spend the rest of his working life in this job until the NSW Government came up with the idea to transfer the role of all Parking Patrol Officers from State Government over to Local Government in 2002.
A year before this Arthur got a parking ticket for an ‘Angle Parking’ offence in Sydney and this changed his life. After checking the details of the offence Arthur found that he was booked for the incorrect offence.
He challenged it in court and somewhat disillusioned with the Legal System that a Magistrate, and Police Prosecutor at Sutherland Court could not work out why he was pleading Not Guilty to an offence to which he admitted in a court of law that he parked incorrectly in accordance with the signs, so the Magistrate set the matter down for hearing.
It was withdrawn a few weeks later because the Officer had retired medically unfit from the Police Service.
The Australian Road Rules were Introduced in Dec 1999 to introduce a uniform set of Rules and Guidelines throughout the Commonwealth, and a year later Arthur got another parking ticket for parking the same way in Leichhardt and subsequently challenged this one in court and represented himself and WON !!!!
The Magistrate said, “Thank you. On the application of the prosecuting authority unopposed the court attendance notice is formally withdrawn at this stage”.
Arthur is still employed on a part time basis with Local Governments in NSW with councils that value his wealth of knowledge and experience in the correct application of the Road Transport Legislation that allows him to do his job the way it was meant to be done – correctly and in accordance with the legislation.
The I.P.B, on the other hand would otherwise have you believe that you are GUILTY until proven Innocent and that it is up to you to prove that.
What makes this whole scenario even more sinister is that Arthur was given another parking ticket in 2005 for the same incorrect offence and is set to challenge this one in court.
A year earlier though Arthur sought from the I.P.B under the Freedom of Information Act the number of Infringements issued for the specific offence for the period Dec 1999 to June 2003 and the figure was approximately 23,000.
Remember when roaming around this website, the legal system under which we operate in this country is - you do not have to prove your innocence, the prosecution have to prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and they will never do that - while there are officers out there issuing parking and traffic infringement notices for the incorrect offences, or not proving the offence has been committed.
This site will not give you legal advice but contacts for Solicitors and Barristers who will give you legal advice – Arthur on the other hand will give you his professional advice which must be worth something to the in-experienced motorist, his resume includes 37 media, Print, Radio and Television interviews in just over 2 years.
On a lighter side you might just like to purchase a copy of Arthur’s book - Not Guilty Your Worship, or even a real parking meter as a money box or bar accessory for the home / office.
We hope you enjoy your visit to the ParkingMeterMan website.
Arthur Birch
