A man was ordered to pay more than £1,000 for fly-tipping after being caught dumping a car battery at Osterley Park.
Waseem Ahmed Ali, of St Crispin’s Close, Southall, pleaded guilty to fly-tipping at a hearing of Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court and has been ordered to pay £1,282.
He had already admitted the offence to Ealing Council officers previously, but then failed to pay a fixed penalty notice of £400, so was summoned to court.
On 7 February, the court heard that, at around 10am on Friday, 29 October 2021, Ali was captured on a resident’s CCTV camera as he fly-tipped the car battery – taking it from the boot of a car and dropping it into the bushes at Osterley Park. The location has previously been flagged to Ealing Council as a problem area for fly-tipping by volunteers from community group LAGER Can.
The court heard that, after being sent the resident’s camera footage and witness statement, a council enforcement officer used the details of the car on the footage to obtain its registered keeper’s details.
It turned out to be a rental car that was in the possession of Ali at the time of the offence. He admitted to the fly-tipping offence and agreed to pay a fixed penalty notice (FPN) of £400.
However, the magistrates were told that Ali never paid the FPN, despite agreeing to do so.
Magistrates’ sentencing powers for fly-tipping offences include prison sentences of up to 12 months and/or a fine. But the magistrates took into consideration Ali’s early admission to the officer that he had dumped the car battery, and also his guilty plea at the court hearing, which resulted in his fine being reduced from £600 to £400. However, he was also ordered to pay legal costs of £842 and a victim surcharge of £40 – coming to a total to be paid of £1,282.
‘We will not tolerate this behaviour’
Councillor Deirdre Costigan, the council’s cabinet member for climate action, said: “We are pleased with the court’s decision. Car batteries are classed as a hazardous material and they need specialist disposal. They can be taken to the Greenford Re-use and Recycle Centre free of charge, and there is no excuse for a battery being dumped – let alone thrown into the bushes of a park used by the public. We are thankful to the resident who spotted the offence taking place. The council takes all fly-tipping seriously and has adopted a zero-tolerance policy. It is anti-social, costs public money to clear up and is potentially dangerous to others. We hope this decision by the court will make it clear to the small minority who fly-tip that the council will not tolerate this behaviour and that we will take legal action where we can.”
