Fined For Putting Envelope In Bin

[naomi24]

//Council jobsworths slapped a couple with a hefty £400 littering fine after one of them put an envelope in a public bin, before they were tracked down by the address on the front.

Stoke City Council hit Deborah and Ian Day with individual £200 fines after fishing out the envelope which contained their address.

 

Council investigators say this breaches sections 87 and 88 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and constitutes it as an offence of littering because household waste cannot be put in a public bin.//

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13468367/Council-jobsworths-fine-couple-400-one-ENVELOPE-public-bin-tracked-address-it.html

 

Easy money  - or confirmation, if any were needed, that the world has finally gone mad - or both?

[New Judge]

"This council says it would be classed as "fly-tipping"."

Then a prosecution under s87 would not succeed on that basis either. That section covers littering. There is a separate section for fly tipping and a single envelope deposited in a litter bin would not qualify for a charge under that section.

Regretfully many Local Authories employ people to enforce littering laws without giving them proper training. This case would not - or certainly should not - get past anyone with legal knowledge. Hopefully somebody with that knowledge will see it. 

[tomus42]

I suspect we're not getting the full story.

It's more likely that they stuffed a full bin liner (containing said envelope) into a public bin because their wheelie bin was full. 

Schoolboy error to leave your address on unlawfully disposed of garbage.