A man from Manchester has been ordered to pay a total of £610 in fines and costs after he admitted illegally disposing waste in South Gloucestershire, following evidence that was captured via a dashboard mounted video camera.
Callum Cawley, 20, of Sefton Crescent in Sale, Manchester, appeared before Bristol Magistrates’ Court on Monday 9 January. He pleaded guilty to littering and was handed a £80 fine and was also ordered to pay costs of £500, and a victim surcharge of £30.
The court heard that on Friday 8 July 2016 a South Gloucestershire resident was travelling along the B4465 Road towards Westerleigh from Codrington in a queue of traffic. The resident was using a dashboard mounted video camera at the time, which captured a large amount of waste thrown from the vehicle in front, landing in a hedgerow alongside the road. In total 9 bottles were seen thrown from the car window in to the verge.
The video footage was submitted to officers from South Gloucestershire Council’s environmental crime team. To secure a conviction appropriate to the type of crime committed we had to use the relevant fly-tipping legislation. This is because the laws relating to littering offences would not have been sufficient to lead to the occupants of the vehicle being identified.
Officers traced the vehicle to an address in Manchester, and interviewed both the driver and passengers of the vehicle. Cawley was identified by its registered keeper as the front seat passenger who committed the offence. Under interview Cawley admitted throwing the bottles from the car.
South Gloucestershire Council’s Environment & Community Services Committee Chair Cllr Heather Goddard said: “We are very pleased to secure this conviction. The beautiful countryside of South Gloucestershire is highly valued by our residents and visitors to the area. I was horrified when I watched the video footage, this was not just littering with one or two bottles thrown out of the car window, the sheer quantity of waste if piled together was more like a fly tip!”
Residents who see illegal fly tipping are encouraged to report it by using our ‘Report flytipping’ web form or emailing streetcare@southglos.gov.uk. For more information visit www.southglos.gov.uk/flytipping
