Two men from County Durham have been ordered to pay more than £2,500 between them for failing to assist in separate fly-tipping investigations.
Durham County Council has successfully taken action against the two men after waste was found dumped near to Seaham Grange Industrial Estate and in Pittington.
The first fly-tip was found beside the A1018 dual carriageway near to Seaham Grange Industrial Estate in May last year.
Household waste, cardboard boxes from children’s toys, as well as broken appliances and
TV boxes were found on the grassed area, alongside evidence linking the waste to a
different individual.
When this person was contacted by the council and interviewed under caution, he stated
that his former girlfriend had paid to have the waste removed. She then told officers that
she paid for the waste to be taken away by Liam Sinclair.
Twenty-year-old Sinclair, from Windemere Road, Seaham, was asked to attend an
interview in April this year, but he failed to show and did not contact officers to rearrange.
In a separate case, a fly-tip was found on land at Elemore Lane, Pittington, earlier this
year, where wardens found numerous pieces of evidence relating to Craig Henderson,
of David Terrace, Quarrington Hill.
An initial letter was sent to the 40-year-old asking him to contact the council and he was
then asked to attend an interview. However, he failed to attend and did not make contact
with officers.
Both Sinclair and Henderson failed to attend Peterlee Magistrates Court, where the
matters were heard in their absence.
Magistrates fined Sinclair £660 and ordered him to pay costs of £488.29 and a £66 victim
surcharge, for his failure to assist in the investigation into a fly-tip near Seaham Grange
Industrial Estate, totalling £1,214.29.
Henderson was also fined £660 and ordered to pay costs of £579.90 as well as a £66
victim surcharge, totalling £1,305.90, for failing to assist in the investigation of a fly-tip at
Pittington.
Ian Hoult, Durham County Council’s neighbourhood protection manager, said: “We take
fly-tipping very seriously in County Durham. Failing to assist our investigation prevents us
from identifying those responsible and will not be tolerated.
“Your waste is your responsibility, and it is your duty to make sure that it is correctly
disposed of. With a number of household waste recycling centres across the county, as
well as bulky waste collections being available, there is simply no excuse for it to be
dumped.”
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