Photographs did not prove the officer had begun preparing a postal PCN (2026)
Case 2250010164 / 2025-04-03 / Adjudicator Jack Walsh
Hawthorn Road
Jack Walsh accepted that the driver left before the officer began preparing the PCN. The missing preparation chronology made the postal PCN procedurally improper on these facts.
“Merely observing the vehicle and photographing it does not constitute beginning to prepare the PCN.”
Jack Walsh, case 2250010164
The driver had stopped to obtain a visitor voucher, found none available and moved to a neighbouring street. Their account was that the officer was some distance away and appeared to be dealing with another vehicle.
Jack Walsh accepted that evidence and compared it with the photographs and PCN time. The last photograph was at 12:01:47, while the PCN time was recorded as 12:03, leaving a possible interval in which the vehicle had already departed.
The officer's notes did not explain when preparation of the PCN began. The adjudicator found, on the balance of probabilities, that the driver left before preparation started. He allowed the appeal because issuing a postal PCN in those circumstances was a procedural impropriety.
The comparison is about the specific basis for postal service and the preparation timeline. It is not a finding that a vehicle can always avoid a PCN by driving away or that the absence of a photograph showing a PCN is decisive.
Source and case reference
Search for 2250010164 in the London Tribunals register to read the decision. This case explains how the adjudicator assessed its evidence; another appeal depends on its own facts and applicable restriction.
Find the official decision