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Household items left on a grass verge in Loughton landed Salinder Minhas of Alderton Close in court facing hefty penalties.
He initially pleaded not guilty to the offences of depositing controlled waste in Loughton without having a waste management permit, and failing to take reasonable measures to ensure the waste was transferred to an authorised person and not complying with the requirements of a notice served on him requiring him to attend an interview with council officers.
Mr Minhas did not attend Southend Magistrates court in December 2019 and he was found guilty in his absence and penalties applied.
As it was later discovered that Mr Minhas had been in hospital on the day of the trial a retrial was fixed and eventually heard on 12 March 2021. Having heard the evidence from one of the council witnesses, Mr Minhas changed his plea to guilty.
Evidence gathered by our Environment & Neighbourhood team showed that between 19 and 30 April 2018 Mr Minhas put a fridge, gas canister, work bench, electric strimmer and other small items on grass at the junction of Alderton Close and Alderton Hall Lane in Loughton.
At the retrial Mr Minhas was given a community order with 200 hours of unpaid work to be completed within 12 months, ordered to pay £600 towards the council’s prosecution costs together with a victim surcharge of £85.
Laws to protect the environment
Magistrates told Mr Minhas:
We understand there were neighbourhood issues and that you are sorry, but you did not plead guilty at the earliest opportunity and caused a great many people to spend time trying to enforce matters.
Laws are there to ensure waste is deposited safely to protect the public and to ensure the environment is not harmed. We hope you now understand the consequences of your actions.
Forced to take further action
A council spokesman added:
Fly tipping is a blight on the Epping Forest district, and costs landowners across the East of England on average £1,000 for each incident.
We are committed to taking action against fly tipping. If anyone is found fly tipping, or not complying with their household duty of care, they may be offered a £400 fixed penalty notice (FPN). At the time of the offence, Mr Minhas was offered the opportunity of paying the then FPN level of £200, which he failed to do.
We continued with the case and the matter was heard in the courts. This could have been avoided if Mr Minhas had cooperated with us, admitted his liability and paid the fine, rather than ignoring all communication, forcing us to take further action.
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