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Fined For Putting Envelope In Bin
//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.//
Easy money - or confirmation, if any were needed, that the world has finally gone mad - or both?
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Both! My local Council have form in ludicrous actions, and are virtually bankrupt as a result.
Personally, nothing with our names and addresses goes in any bin, including our own, we shred everything after one of our daughters was stung with identity fraud.
This is barmy, and should be appealed.
Litter in a litter bin?
Whatever next!!!
"Easy money - or confirmation, if any were needed, that the world has finally gone mad - or both?"
Neither really, though an attempt at the first.
The Council would be hard pressed to gain a conviction under s87 or 88. S87 covers the offence of depositing of litter and s88 provides for the fixed penalty process that goes with it.
Litter bins, by their nature, are provided so that people need not deposit litter in places where it would cause a nuisance. There may be bylaws of which the council might take advantage, but a prosecution under s87 is bound to fail.
The legisltion makes no mention of what may or may not be deposited in public bins. But leaving that aside, even if the envelope was simply dropped in the street, to secure a conviction under s87 the LA must prove who dropped it. Establishing who the envelope was sent to does not prove who dropped it.
There was a case in my local court a year or two ago almost identical to this (except that the litter was found on the pavement, not in a bin). It was an envelope addressed to a nearby address. The householder was offered a fixed penalty which he declined and the LA prosecuted him. The prosecutor provided no evidence to show who actually deposited the litter. The defendant submited there was "no case to aanswer" and the Bench agreed.
After acquitting him (and - unusally - awarding costs against the LA) the Bench was scathing of the LA and made it clear that any other prosecutions brought along similar lines would be treated similarly.
There are three issue with the allegation against Mr & Mrs Day:
1. The litter was found in a litter bin - the proper place for it. The law quoted places no restrictions on what may or may not be deposited in litter bins.
2. There is no evidence showing who deposited it.
3. The Council has seen fit to issue fixed penalty notices to two people. This confirms (a) they believe anybody who they choose may be responsible for such an offence and (b) they either do not know, of have coveniently overlooked the fact that it is incumbent on them to identify the offender.
Local Authorities (or usually their agents under the guise of "Civil Enforcement Officers" try it on. Some idea of the their quality of the enforcement can perhaps be gained from this passage from their letter:
"The allegation "littering" means an offence under section 87 and 88 is guilty of an offence if waste is throws down, drops or otherwise deposits any litter in any place and leaves it."
At the very least, when demanding £400 from somebody, you'd think they'd have the decency to employ somebody who can string a few words together so as they make sense.
They issue fixed penalty notices in the hope that the recipient will not be sufficiently clued up on the law and will simply stump up. This looks like one of those instances.
Mr & Mrs Day should keep hold of their money and see Stoke City Council in court.
I shred absolutely everything too but I did see an amazing hack on the Jeremy Vine show that I didn't believe would work but does, really well, particularly on Amazon parcel address labels; rub it over with hand sanitiser and all black print details disappear like magic. It's been a help because I used to painstakingly cut them out of plastic or cardboard packaging.
This council says it would be classed as "fly-tipping".
"Litter bins
We are responsible for installing, maintaining, and emptying public litter bins and dog waste bins in both Hinckley and Burbage Common.
What you can do
Use public litter bins when you are out and about. You can use litter bins to dispose of dog waste if this has been tied in a bag.
Don't put your household waste into, or next to, a public litter bin. This is classed as fly-tipping and may result in fines being issued and the removal of the bin."
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