Prolific fly-tipper put behind bars
A prolific fly-tipper has been sentenced to 21 months in prison and had their vehicle seized following a joint prosecution brought by Buckinghamshire Council, Hillingdon Council and Sutton Council.
Dean Stanley pleaded guilty to a total of 17 fly-tipping offences, which he committed in just under a year across London, Surrey and Buckinghamshire. Sixteen of the offences took place in Buckinghamshire and Hillingdon and one in Sutton. In sentencing on Friday 25 February, the judge at Aylesbury Crown Court took into account the sheer number of offences committed by Stanley, describing them as 'deliberate and flagrant'. Stanley received a 21 month custodial sentence for each of the 16 offences in Buckinghamshire and Hillingdon, to run concurrently and a 14 month custodial sentence for the offence in Sutton, to also run concurrently. In addition, Judge Miss Recorder B Dhaliwal ordered the seizure of Stanley's van as part of his sentence.
A second defendant, Bradley Caswell, was sentenced for one fly-tipping offence in Sutton. He received a £500 fine and was ordered to pay £720 compensation, court costs of £500 plus a court surcharge. The judge described his behaviour as 'reckless'.
Stanley collected waste, including white electrical items, furniture and kitchen units, doors, beds, mattresses and building waste, from various commercial and residential premises and dumped it – without permission – wherever he could. He would often opportunistically approach the occupiers of properties where he saw building works were already taking place to offer his waste disposal services. At other times he dumped waste he had removed from homes where he was contracted to carry out building works.
His dumping sites were in public open spaces including recreation grounds, children’s playgrounds, parks and grass verges by highways. At other times, he dumped waste outside people’s homes or in their driveways. His actions caused considerable inconvenience, nuisance and expense to the property owners – some of whom have had to spend considerable amounts of money to clear the waste lawfully.
Stanley was linked to the offences in several ways. On a number of occasions, he gave his personal name, mobile telephone and/or bank details to those from whom he removed waste. In addition, two distinctive Ford Transit style flat-back tipper vans – one red and the other white – both linked to Stanley through insurance and DVLA records, were often observed by eye-witnesses and/or on CCTV images taking away the waste and/or dumping it.
Legal resources were pooled by all three local authorities which helped to establish evidence of ongoing and long-term offending. Local enforcement officers from the authorities investigated, photographed and obtained CCTV footage recording the illegal activities. Victims of the offences also provided statements and photographs.
Stanley engaged in this criminal activity for commercial profit and without regard for public inconvenience, the law or the environment. The judge acknowledged Stanley's actions caused "considerable inconvenience, nuisance, expense and environmental damage" and gave her thanks to the three local authorities for their work in bringing him to justice: "The long, meticulous and tenacious investigation by officers at all three local authorities, and the work of the council lawyers putting this case together, has been hugely impressive and assisted me greatly. Thank you for all your efforts. I hope you feel justice was done today as a result of those efforts."
Peter Strachan, Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment, commented:
“I’m horrified by the vile and selfish nature of these fly-tipping offences across multiple areas. However, I’m pleased to see that the perpetrators have been caught and brought to justice with the combined efforts of our team here in Bucks and colleagues in Hillingdon and Sutton. Custodial sentences are not handed out lightly but the fact the judge sentenced in this way demonstrates the serious nature of the crime. This should be a warning to other fly-tippers that wherever and however you commit this abhorrent crime, we will identify and prosecute you."
Residents are reminded of the importance of only using a registered waste carrier when disposing of waste to avoid becoming a victim of a rogue collector. The law requires anyone who produces waste to ensure that it’s disposed of lawfully. Any cold caller offering to remove waste should show customers their waste transport licence. If they cannot do so, then an offence may be committed if the customer allows the waste to be taken away and it’s subsequently dumped. If the waste is traced back to the individual who produced it, they will be guilty of an offence if they cannot provide information as to who took the waste, such as the registration of the waste vehicle and details of the transporter.
Peter added: “Members of the public should be aware of the consequences of allowing unlicensed individuals to remove waste for a low price. To ensure you don’t fall foul of the law, please don’t accept offers of cheap waste removal from callers and absolutely never pay in cash. Failure to do this might lead to a criminal record, possible compensation claims for the costs of lawful removal of waste, plus a fine or even imprisonment in extreme cases.”