Tony Touhey refused to pay up ... had his day in court and won.
Tony Touhey refused to pay up ... had his day in court and won.

Melbourne City Council has apologised for issuing a fine to the wrong person after it was challenged in court.

The council fined Tony Tuohey $70, claiming he had parked in a bay between 12.05pm and 6.09pm on August 13, 2012.

Mr Tuohey said he presented the Melbourne Magistrates Court with his parking receipt that showed he parked his BMW at 5.07pm and the ticket was valid until the end of the paid period at 6.30pm in Gisborne Street, East Melbourne.

He claimed the sensor in the parking bay was responsible for the misinformation.

‘‘This was the result of officer error, not any issue with the parking technology,’’ the council said in a statement today.

‘‘City of Melbourne now believe that Mr Tuohey’s vehicle was incorrectly identified by the officer and the infringement should have been issued to the car in the adjoining bay,’’ it said.

‘‘The charge was withdrawn yesterday by the City of Melbourne. We apologise for any inconvenience.’’

Mr Tuohey was awarded $2200 in costs but said he would still be $1000 out of pocket as a result of defending his ‘‘David and Goliath’’ case.

‘‘I’m prepared to stand up for myself,’’ he said.

However, he was concerned for other people who did not have the ‘‘guile or the resources to challenge what is fairly iniquitous and unfair’’.

Mr Tuohey had been parked near the Park Hyatt hotel where he was attending a business meeting when he was fined.