Honest guv, it fell off my lorry ...
A man who dumped waste illegally near Bishopstone was convicted after being found guilty at a trial at Wycombe Magistrates Court last Thursday (6th March).
The court heard that on the night of 14th March 2013, Scot Ian Richardson (24) of North End, Hemel Hempstead, and two other men, were spoken to by officers from Thames Valley Police in a field gateway near Bishopstone, Aylesbury on the road towards Stone. Mr Richardson claimed that he was mending the tailgate to his (fully laden) waste truck.
Several days later waste was reported dumped in a field gateway on Marsh Lane on the Stoke Mandeville side of Bishopstone. The waste was examined by an investigator from the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire, who found clearance waste including a toilet bowl and cistern, a mirror, wood waste, cardboard and plastic packaging and a tyre. He traced an item to an address in Ealing; the waste was traced to a collection from the Ealing address by Mr Richardson and two other men.
When interviewed at a police station by Waste Partnership investigators, Mr Richardson admitted collecting much of the waste found on Marsh Lane from the Ealing address. He denied dumping the waste on Marsh Lane and repeated his story to the police that his lorry tailgate had failed and that he had stopped soon after noting this to be the case, in order to mend it. Mr Richardson surmised that the waste in the field at Marsh Lane must have fallen off the back of the lorry as he drove along. He was unable to account for how no waste was found on the road, or for why the waste was found three metres off the road into the field. Mr Richardson was similarly unable to explain how the fragile items had remained intact rather than smashing as they fell on to the ground.
At court, Mr Richardson repeated his explanations, but the magistrates found his story lacked credibility and found him guilty of dumping the waste, noting that no other waste had been found fallen from the truck on the three kilometres between where the waste was dumped and where Mr Richardson was spoken to by the police. In sentencing, the magistrates took into consideration that Mr Richardson said he had not worked for 8 months, had no income or savings. The other two men were not present at court.
The Magistrates fined Mr Richardson £100 and ordered him to pay clean-up and prosecution costs of £500. A victim surcharge of £20 was also levied, making a total to pay of £620.
The case was investigated and prosecuted by Buckinghamshire County Council working on behalf of the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire.
The Waste Partnership launched the 'Illegal Dumping Costs' campaign in October 2003 to combat illegal dumping and waste management offences in Buckinghamshire. Since then, the Partnership has secured 414 convictions against individuals and companies for illegal dumping and related offences.
On average, there is at least one conviction per week for illegal dumping offences in Buckinghamshire. This has resulted in a halving of reported incidents and a saving of over £1 million for residents.
Report fly-tipping in Buckinghamshire by calling 0845 330 1856 or report it online at www.buckscc.gov.uk/fly
