Doncaster man ordered to pay £1,792 after his son dumped waste

Paul Reddish, aged 61, of Lister Avenue, Doncaster, said he has given his son the van to use, while it was off the road, and said he was probably the person using it at the time of the fly-tipping offence, which was witnessed by an off-duty police sergeant.

Reddish was prosecuted for allowing his son to use his van, which was used in the fly-tipping incident, in a case brought by East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

Reddish pleaded not guilty to the offence, however he was found guilty, after trial, of being in control of a vehicle which was used to fly-tip the waste, when he appeared at Beverley Magistrates’ Court last Thursday (October 14).

Reddish had accepted he was the owner of the vehicle and the vehicle was insured by him.

Reddish was fined £720, ordered to pay costs of £1,000, and a victim surcharge of £72, totalling £1,792.

The court heard the van was seen, with the waste being deposited out of the rear of the vehicle at the layby near Tickton on August 2 last year. The incident was photographed by an off-duty police sergeant who happened to be at the scene.

The offence was reported to East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s streetscene enforcement team.

During investigations, an officer from the team found the works van was registered to Reddish at his business address at Carnaby Industrial Estate, near Bridlington.

The officer wrote to Reddish, who responded that his son was using the van on the day of the offence. However his son later failed to respond to repeated letters from the council.

An officer then contacted Reddish to make a statement, which he was initially willing to supply, however when a statement was sent to him to be signed, it was not returned.

After repeated but failed attempts to obtain a statement to evidence that Reddish was not in a position to be in control of the vehicle on the date of the offence, Reddish was summoned to court.

Under the Environmental Protection Act, where waste is carried in and deposited from a vehicle, the person who controls, or is in a position to control the use of the vehicle, shall be treated as knowingly causing the waste to be deposited, whether or not they gave any instructions for this to be done.

As Reddish was in a position to control the use of his vehicle by letting his son drive it, he was prosecuted by the council.

Paul Tripp, head of streetscene services at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said: “This is a good example of, where a vehicle is used in the offence of fly-tipping, the owner of the vehicle was prosecuted for letting that happen.

“I would like to thank the off-duty police sergeant for gathering and sending us evidence, which led to this prosecution.

“All fly-tipping is unacceptable and we need the public’s help to prevent it from happening.”

Anyone caught fly-tipping could be ordered to pay a £400 fixed penalty notice or the case can be taken to court, where they face an unlimited fine or even imprisonment.

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