Waste offender skips out on court date, receives fine
An Oldham man has been successfully prosecuted and fined nearly £1,000 after failing to appear in court for fly-tipping offences.
An investigation was launched by Environmental Health Officers in September last year following a report that waste had been dumped at the Windy Hill radio mast in Saddleworth in Oldham.
The waste was traced back to Ciprian Sorica and to property firm ABS Properties, of Tamworth Street in Oldham. According to ABS, it had hired Sorica to remove the waste without checking he was a licenced waste carrier.
ABS properties pleaded guilty to a duty of care offence at Oldham Magistrates Court and was ordered to pay £971 in costs and a £15 victim surcharge as well as being given a 12-month conditional discharge, meaning the sentence will not be imposed if no further offence is committed within this time frame.
Sorica failed to attend his court appointment, leading to a warrant being issued for his arrest. After his arrest at Manchester Airport, Sorica pleaded guilty to fly-tipping charges and was also given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £971.
Oldham Council has been getting tough on waste offences recently, as five people have been charged after dropping cigarette butts on the ground leading to a total of £1,862 being paid out in fines and court costs.
Dumped waste “costs the council £1 million a year”
Councillor Cath Ball, Deputy Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Co-operatives, said: “Fly-tipping is carried out by a selfish minority of individuals and not only blights the borough but is also a health hazard. People need to take responsibility for their actions and clear up after themselves rather than leaving it to others.
“It costs the council £1 million a year to clear up waste and litter that is dumped in public places – money which could be better used on other services, especially when overall council funding is tight due to cuts and increasing costs.
“We would also like to thank the resident who got in touch with us and reported this incident – it shows that if you get in touch and report fly-tipping we will take action if there is evidence.”
Government and industry action on waste crime
While waste has not featured prominently in recent government agendas, at the 2015 Conservative Party Conference in October 2015, then-Environment Secretary Liz Truss pledged to ‘crack down on waste cowboys’ through on-the-spot fines, ‘enabling law-abiding businesses to thrive’.
Shortly afterwards, the government announced that fixed-penalty notices for fly-tippers would be introduced in England ‘at the earliest opportunity’ after a consultation into waste crime enforcement in England and Wales. Defra also stated that legislation will be amended to extend the powers of regulating bodies, such as the Environment Agency (EA) and local councils.
Tackling waste crime has also been a priority for the waste industry recently, with organisations including the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) and the Environmental Services Association (ESA) running a campaign to raise awareness and prevent illegal activity in the sector.
More about how the EA tackles waste crime can be found in Resource’s feature article.
