Environmental crime offence lands Canterbury man a £2,700 fine
A Canterbury man has been found guilty of an environmental crime offence in his absence and fined a total of £2,714.
Mark Lees, 39, of Old Park Avenue, Canterbury, failed to attend the first hearing at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on 13 March this year. The case was then relisted for Tuesday 16 July at Margate Magistrates’ Court, which Lees also failed to attend.
The court was told that a flytipping incident occurred in Warwick Road on 19 February 2023 and was recorded by a Canterbury resident. The footage showed waste being removed from a flat-bed truck, and being dumped alongside a wall in Warwick Road.
The waste comprised of a child’s scooter, an old mattress, some containers full of waste and general household waste.
Investigations carried out by the city council’s environmental crime officers connected the flytip to Lees.
Lees, who when spoken to wrongly claimed he held a valid waste carrier’s licence, was asked by officers to assist with the investigation and to produce a number of documents and records.
No documents or records were ever produced. It is an offence to fail to produce documents to local authority officers in the course of their investigations into environmental offences.
The case went ahead in Lees’ absence and Magistrates found him guilty of an offence under section 110(2)(a) Environment Act 1995.
Lees was fined £1,760, with a surcharge of £704 and the costs of the council’s prosecution of £250 – a total of £2,714 collection order to pay within 28 days.
Cabinet member for enforcement, Cllr Connie Nolan, said: “This was as flagrant an incident of flytipping as you can get – the classic case of chucking stuff off the back of a truck, leaving it on the street and hurrying away.
“We are very grateful to the person who spotted this happening and had the presence of mind to capture footage and then contact us. It was only through their swift actions that we were able to pursue this case.
“We always respond positively to residents making us aware of flytipping and encourage people to report it – it’s far better to be told several times, rather than not at all or to assume someone else will.
“Mr Lees’ failure to respond to our officers’ enquiries and then his double no-show at court have got him absolutely nowhere. He’s been found guilty with a large fine, and we are pleased with this outcome. We hope it will serve as a deterrent to others who are thinking of blighting our neighbourhoods in this way.”
Published: 23 July 2024