A case filed against a man who had refused to pay an English-only parking fine has been thrown out of court for the second time. Toni Schiavone was fined for parking in Llangrannog, Ceredigion, in September 2020 in a car park managed by One Parking Solutions.

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Mr Schiavone reached out to the company urging the penalty notice and further correspondence in Welsh several times.

He stated that he would then pay the fine once this had been received. 

However, he claimed the company failed to send over a Welsh copy and all other correspondence was in English.

The former teacher won his appeal at the original case, in May last year, as there was no representative from One Parking Solutions present. 

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On Friday, deputy judge Owain Williams threw out One Parking Solution’s case against Toni Schiavone once again, as the company, whose counsel was present this time, delayed for too long before launching the appeal and introduced it under incorrect rules.

Speaking in court, Toni Schiavone said: “The travel costs of the counsel alone are more than the cost of translating the fine, and the cost of conducting the case are a hundred times or more the cost of providing a Welsh fine. 

“The company’s attitude has been completely contemptuous and completely against the rights of Welsh speakers.”

The judge ordered that One Parking Solutions pay the travel expenses of Mr Schiavone. The defendant said that this money would be donated to the charity Cancer Research Wales.

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Following the case, Siân Howys, of Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s Welsh Language Rights Group, said: “We are pleased that the judge ruled in favour of the defendant, as in a similar case in Caernarfon, where the judge Mervyn Evans-Jones ruled that the defendant did not need to pay an English-only fine.

“It is becoming increasingly evident that these companies need to change their attitudes towards the Welsh language. To put pressure on them we will today be launching a campaign encouraging people not to pay for parking in car parks with English-only signs, nor to pay the resultant fines.

“The Government should set Standards in this area and for other businesses, such as supermarkets and banks, so that there is a requirement for the private sector to provide their services in Welsh.”

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