Editorial: Clamped dad gets sympathy

Wheel clamps!

Now there's a subject to get most motorists hot under the collar.

It is the topic of conversation in Auckland, where private clamping companies appear to clamp first and ask questions later.

There have been a couple of cases recently where disgruntled motorists have taken these companies to court and won.

The latest case involved Mary Ellen Powdrell, who took NZ Wheel Clamping Company to a disputes tribunal after it illegally clamped her car.

The company claimed she had been parked in a shopping mall carpark longer than she had been.

Mrs Powdrell was inspired to fight to get her money back after reading a front page story in the NZ Herald in April about Glen Vickery, who was awarded $550 after a disputes tribunal ruled the same clamping firm's signs were unclear. She said her victory was more about principle than about getting her money back.

The above cases are quite clear cut. Justice done. Case closed.

Closer to home we have our own wheel clamping case that is not so clear cut. We have run the story on the front page of today's paper.

A Hastings father, Jake Adam Flutey, was fined after smashing a wheel-clamp with an axe, but he claims he did so as he needed to take his epileptic daughter to hospital.

He pleaded guilty to wilful damage and had his existing fines remitted by Judge Barney Thomas for 50 hours' community work.

There are a number of ways to look at this case.

You have to ask why Flutey allowed his fines to build up to $1600. He should have either been more vigilant about not getting fined or made sure he kept up to date with his payments. Having said that, none of this was his daughter's fault and Flutey knew he had to get her to hospital.

How many of us would take an axe to a clamp is debatable.

The law is there for a reason and taking it into your own hands is normally called vigilantism.

It could be argued that the court bailiffs could have been a little bit more sensitive to his plight, but then again they probably have heard every story in the book and sometimes it is difficult to separate truth from fiction.

It is one of those cases where you can't condone his actions, but you do have some sympathy because all he was doing was trying to do right by his daughter.