Man convicted over fly-tipping

A BUSINESSMAN from Chertsey whose contractor was caught flytipping waste in Wokingham has been fined £600.

On Friday, April 13, Reading Magistrates Court heard that Carl Davies, 25, of Chertsey Bridge

Road, Chertsey, had been hired by a pensioner in Ashford, Middlesex, in October last year, to remove household waste from his home. The professional waste carrier collected a range of items including a double divan bed, mattress, wheelchair, commode, toilet seat, folding doors and wood.

This was found by a PCSO dumped on Castle Hill, near Arborfield.

Inspecting the waste, they discovered paperwork within it leading the Wokingham Borough Council investigation team to the pensioner, and ultimately Davies.

Davies, a registered waste carrier, said that he sometimes contracted out his work. He told the court that he had employed a friend to dispose of the pensioner’s waste.

In mitigation, he claimed that he usually disposes of waste correctly.

He pleaded guilty in court to the charge of failing in his duty of care as a registered waste carrier, when he transferred the work to his friend, by not taking the necessary steps and measures to prevent a fly tipping offence.

Davies was fined £600, ordered to pay a £60 victim surcharge, and £777.60 in costs.

Wokingham Borough

Council and the Public Protection Partnership (PPP) are to work together to target fly-tipping and other environmental crimes across the Wokingham Borough.

They will also have access to specialist case management intelligence, and look to remove any financial gains from people who have benefited from illegal activity.

“People and businesses are very important in terms of identifying offenders. So I would ask anyone, that comes across a fly-tip or other waste offending, to report it,” said Clare Lawrence, assistant director place based services at Wokingham Borough Council.

“I would also urge people to be very careful about who they give their waste to, for disposal. Every one of us has a duty of care when it comes to waste disposal, and breaching that duty is an offence that can lead to severe penalties. Never give waste to an unlicensed carrier, and always ask for documentation when it’s collected.”