A man who was recently sentenced to two months in jail for numerous threats he made against a metre attendant for writing him a 5,000 ISK ticket is not the first incident of its kind in Iceland.
Pressan reports that the 38-year-old man, who was given a suspend two-month sentence, was returning to his car – which he had parked illegally between Njalsgata and Bergþóragata – when he saw a metre attendant writing up a 5,000 ISK ticket for his car.
The man flew into a rage, calling the attendant a series of degrading, sexist names, threatening to physically assault her, and finally threatening to kill her. In court, the man confessed to the charges and, having no prior criminal record, was given a suspended two-month sentence over a two-year probationary period.
Kolbrún Jónatansdóttir, director of the Reykjavík Parking Service, said she was pleased with the sentence, and that this is far from the first time such an incident has taken place.
Metre attendants are equipped with a security panic button which, when pressed, begins recording audio and alerts police to the location. But before then, one metre attendant was beaten to the ground, and had their nose broken. Charges were dropped against the assailant for lack of witnesses.
“It’s as if the general public doesn’t realise that these people are just doing their job,” Kolbrún said. “It’s not like they’re writing tickets out of ill will.”
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