A man who was fined £100 for not paying for parking quickly enough managed to get the fine cancelled after a three-year battle — with the help of ChatGPT, which acted as his lawyer. The Independent reports, UNN writes.
Details
In August 2023, 45-year-old Rafal Goral travelled to the coast, to the town of Newquay in Cornwall. He left his car in a pay-and-display car park on Tower Road and joined the queue for the parking meter.
According to the man, the machine did not accept payment by bank card, so he had to download the RingGo app and create an account. Because of the poor mobile connection, the process took some time.
Two weeks later, Goral received a £100 fine from Smart Parking Limited. The notice stated that he had paid for parking 16 minutes after entering the car park.
In September 2023, the man appealed the fine, but later received a demand from a debt collection company to pay £170. According to him, over the following years he received letters demanding payment and warning of possible court proceedings.
In November 2025, another debt collection company contacted him. The man was subsequently told that the case could go to court in October 2026. By then, the fine had risen to approximately £300.
How ChatGPT helped
Throughout the process, Goral uploaded letters and emails to ChatGPT to receive advice on what to do and how to respond. According to him, the artificial intelligence also helped prepare a written defence, which he sent to the court.
On 25 September, several weeks before the scheduled court hearing, the man received an email informing him that the case had been closed and the fine cancelled.
Anthropic reported a user to the police over a chat with Claude06.10.26, 10:28
Goral said that he had also contacted the Citizens Advice service repeatedly, but the help of artificial intelligence proved more useful to him.
"From beginning to end, every time I received a letter, I asked ChatGPT what to do. It told me what to reply, whom to contact, and everything else," the man said.
He also stressed that, for him, the case was less about the money than about the principle.
"If you know that you are right, then you should not pay them any money," Goral said.
According to him, he was prepared to defend his position in court to the end, but ultimately managed to have the fine cancelled without a court hearing.
You can lose access for insulting Claude - Anthropic introduces new rules09.10.26, 10:45