77-year-old man admits assaulting traffic warden in Welshpool parking dispute

A 77-year-old man has admitted assaulting a traffic warden after threatening to "lump" her when a pay-and-display machine rejected his coins. Stephen Doughty flew into parking rage when he feared he would get a ticket from the lone warden in a market town, a court was told. The court was shown footage of Doughty shouting that it would be the "last ticket" the warden would hand out. Doughty, who admitted assault by beating, claimed he was trying to put money into the machine for the £2.50 stay but said he became frustrated when it rejected his coins. The footage showed him swearing, threatening violence and assaulting traffic warden Wendy Williams. Williams was checking a pay-and-display machine at the Seven Stars car park in Welshpool, Powys. The court heard she checked her handheld device, which confirmed that no parking ticket had been purchased for the vehicle. When the warden approached, Doughty told her he was waiting for his partner, but then became agitated getting out of his car and walking towards the warden. Doughty started shouting abuse and making threats asking Williams in an aggressive manner if she doubted the claim that he was waiting for his partner. "Do you want me to lump you now?," he said to her. "I'll thump you straight in the gob." Doughty slapped Williams' hand as she used a handheld device, described her role as "doing a scum job", pointed at her face and told her to "watch it" before slapping her hand again. Williams told him his actions amounted to an assault to which Doughy responded with further abuse. He called her a "nuisance" and told her to go away before returning to his car. Body-worn footage shown in court then captured a civilian employee of Dyfed-Powys Police challenging Doughty. "Don't do that. Don't put your hands on her," he said. "I saw that. Apologise. She's on her own doing her job." After the incident in November, Williams allowed Doughty a further 10 minutes to purchase a parking ticket from the pay-and-display machine. Prosecutor Helen Tench said the assault had a "detrimental impact" on the traffic warden. No physical injuries were reported. In a police interview, Doughty said he had become frustrated because the machine would not accept coins, adding that police were "more interested in ripping off a pensioner". In mitigation, defence solicitor Robert Hanratty said Doughty, who appeared in court in a wheelchair, accepted responsibility for his behaviour. "He will be the first to admit that when he gets agitated, he does swear," he said. Hanratty added that the Probation Service recognised he suffers from anxiety. "He very much regrets this incident. She was doing her job, and she puts up with a lot of stick. "Unfortunately, he chose to vent his frustration on Ms Williams." Probation officer Julian Davies said Doughty became "very frustrated" when money repeatedly fell out of the machine and felt the warden was being dismissive.