"Breeds contempt in the whole system" - Really? It seems very clear what has been going on all this time:
"Parking in an area reserved for residents"; "signs displayed"; "in a restricted area"; " since at least 2015"; "ignoring more than 200 penalties"; "has not challenged a single fine".

Agreed. From some reading, it appears she took 'internet wisdom' as gospel fact, and followed 'advice' to just ignore the notices.

not many of us have £25k sitting around or in investments to pay such a fine, so will she have to borrow (assuming a lender will lend) or go into some form of IVA and write off the debt. Or will the debt be secured against a future inheritance. Were these matters investigated, as there is no point issuing a fine that cannot be paid, and if ability to pay was not considered - especially if it results in insolvancy and future receipt of benefits then this will bring the contempt for the whole process.

Agreed her actions were wrong and she deserved the result, but it's going to be an empty victory for someone if she never pays.

Ahh. But unlike in a criminal case, where ability to pay is taken into account, this was purely a civil case. So it has been established, by a court, that she owes this money.

If she is now willing to engage with the company involved, rather than just burying her head in the sand like she has done for the last few years, then she may well find them more willing to come to an agreement than she ever was - they have repeatedly offered to supply her with a parking permit at a cost of £40 per month.

But yes, if they so chose, they could force her into bankruptcy.

Until a few years ago, you could ignore these private parking fines as they were considered an invoice, and many companies used the more strongarm approach of wheelclamping your car, where paying up was the only option to get the clamp removed. Since clamping was banned, a change in the law means the parking companies can pursue you through the courts and in many cases, should you ignore their letters, they will take you to a county court or send a bailiff round.

For all I have little sympathy with parking companies and some of the jobsworths they employ, might it have been easier for the woman to pay the £ 40 for the permit than get into this sort of mess.

Yes, it would. However, it appears she took 'internet wisdom' as fact, and took the view that the invoices were unenforcable.

Oops.

Wonder what sites like pepipoo are saying now ...

Pepipoo advice will be the same as it always has been. In Scotland the PPC has to prove the driver entered the contract, so don't tell them who was driving. This case the loser told them and lost through stupidity.

And all PPC have to do, in that case, is submit to the court that the registered keeper has a duty to inform them who was driving the car, and if the keeper refuses to do so then it is 'reasonable' for them to assume that the registered keeper WAS the driver and take the keeper to court. At which point the keeper can try the same trick in front of a judge, and find themselves on the wrong end of things again. Or they can give the details of the person who was driving. Or they can risk going to prison for perjury.

The game has changed - no amount of wishful thinking is going to change that.