Bath & North East Somerset Council has prosecuted a fly tipper after catching him in the act on CCTV, when he was dumping waste from his van.
Morgan Lawrence, 47 of Newland Road, Withywood, Bristol, appeared at Bath Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 24th May 2017 and pleaded guilty to offences under environmental protection legislation.
The court heard that on 16th May 2016, Mr Lawrence was recorded on CCTV dumping waste from his van in East Dundry Road, Bath and North East Somerset.
The waste included numerous car bumper parts, a car tyre, toys and miscellaneous items.
A Council investigation revealed that Mr Lawrence was running an unauthorised waste collection and disposal business advertised on social media.
As a result Mr Lawrence was convicted of the unauthorised disposal of waste commonly known as fly tipping and failure to discharge his duty of care to ensure his waste is transferred to an authorised person.
Mr Lawrence’s defence stated that whilst his conduct appeared “deliberate, lazy and that he had been after a quick buck”, he had not fly tipped before or since.
The court sentenced Mr Lawrence to a 12 month Community Order with 140 hours of unpaid work and ordered him to pay the clean-up costs of £139, prosecution costs of £450 and the victim surcharge of £85.
Martin Shields, Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Divisional Director for Environmental Services, said: “This prosecution sends out a very strong and clear warning message to anyone considering fly tipping in the area that this activity will not be tolerated.
“Bath & North East Somerset Council has CCTV monitoring at various locations and will not hesitate to bring these offenders to justice.”
