litter fine for dumping

[jonpaul2507]

Hi i just got a letter in the door, its about dumping rubbish illegally, the council found a letter bearing my name in a bag of rubbish which was illegally dumped, i did not dump the rubbish i actually detest people that dump rubbish illegally and have reported a person whom i witnessed dumping rubbish a few years ago, this has no connection with my problem.
The council want me to pay a 125 euro fine plus a 20 euro clean up charge.
what is the best way to go about this who would pay a fine for an offence they did not commit?

 

[ClubMan]

Did they provide evidence of the letter in question (e.g. a photocopy)? If so how did it get into somebody else's rubbish? Maybe this is case if mistaken identity/address? Contact your LA to see if there is some sort of appeals process.

 

[extopia]

Perhaps your post was misdirected or stolen? Or it could be something you gave to someone else. Doubt if it would stand up in court.

 

[ClubMan]

Going to court could be a lot more costly than €125 even if you win!

Fines for littering

Leaving or throwing litter in a public place is an offence that can be subject to an on-the-spot fine of 125 euro or a maximum fine of 3,000 euro if you are convicted of a litter offence in the . Where an offence continues after conviction, the person concerned is guilty of a further offence and liable to a fine not exceeding 600 euro for each day during which the contravention continues. The Protection of the Environment Act 2003 introduced conviction on indictment and carries a maximum fine not exceeding 130,000 euro and a fine not exceeding 10,000 euro per day for continuing offences.

You can be issued with an on-the-spot fine by a Litter Warden appointed by your local authority or by a member of the Gardai. If you are convicted of a litter offence, you may also be required by the court to pay the local authority's costs and expenses in investigating the offence and any costs incurred in bringing the prosecution.

Some or all LAs have appeal processes - e.g. [broken link removed].

 

[jonpaul2507]

i got a picture and it is my name and address its certainly my document(ntl bill) they also took a picture of the site where the rubbish was dumped.
I was living in rented accomodation at the time and I'm starting to think it could of been my landlord that dumped the rubbish as he is a right ould hungry yoke and the date was the time i so happened to be leaving the property to live somewhere else. I may have left rubbish in the wheely bin and he emptyied it and dumped it in its location.
sorry i only figured this out now because the dates were 2 years ago and put 2 and 2 together.
still if i explain my case to the council they will proabaly say tough, you pay the fine, would they do this?

 

[jonpaul2507]

thanks clubman for that infomation, i think i may well have to ring the landlord, but i bet he'll downright deny it.

 

[ClubMan]

thanks clubman for that infomation, i think i may well have to ring the landlord, but i bet he'll downright deny it.

Probably better not to and just concentrate on the appeals process if you think that there is a legitimate reason why you should not be responsible for this dumping and the concomitant fine.