Three people fined for separate fly-tipping incidents across Darlington

Three people have been prosecuted for fly-tipping across Darlington, with fines and costs totalling more than £800.

Peterlee Magistrates' Court heard that a fly-tip in the back lane of Lodge Street was reported to Darlington Borough Council on September 21, 2023. A civil enforcement officer found a mattress, carpets and multiple bags of waste, with evidence found linking it to a nearby property.

The landlord of the property was interviewed under caution and explained that Louise Coldwell, of Rookhope Court, Darlington; and her business partner, had been paid to carry out renovation work on the property, including £420 for house clearance and a skip. Coldwell admitted in interview that she had been involved in the work and had dumped waste in the back lane.

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She was issued with a fixed penalty notice, but when she failed to pay, the cases was referred to court. She was fined £40 and ordered to pay £150 costs and a victim surcharge after pleading guilty in her absence to breaching Section 33(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

In a second case, the court heard that on November 1 last year, Darlington Borough Council received a report of a fly-tip in the back lane between Salisbury Terrace and Barningham Street, where a witness had seen a resident dumping carpets, boxes and bin bags at different locations in the lane.

The resident was identified as Daniela Lamasanu of Barningham Street, Darlington, who admitted dumping the waste when interviewed under caution. She was issued with a fixed penalty notice, but failed to pay, and the case was referred to court.

Ms Lamasanu was found guilty in her absence of fly-tipping, in breach of Section 33(1)(a) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and was fined £220 and ordered to pay £150 costs and a victim surcharge of £88.

A third case was heard when magistrates were told that on December 8 last year, the council received CCTV footage of a van pulling up in the back lane of Harrison Terrace, where the driver and a passenger stuffed a commercial bin with eight bags of waste. A civic enforcement officer attended and found the bags were full of soil.

The bag was traced to Keith Downie of Denmark Street, Darlington, who was interviewed under caution and admitted to driving the van, but then chose to end the interview before answering any further questions. He was issued with a fixed penalty notice, but the case was referred to court when he failed to pay.

Mr Downie told magistrates he could not pay the outstanding amount and had effectively ignored correspondence from the council. He admitted fly-tipping in breach of Section 33(1)(a) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and was fined £80 and ordered to pay £75 costs and a victim surcharge of £32.

Darlington Borough councillor Amanda Riley said: "Our staff work hard to keep our streets and back lanes clean, and fly-tipping of any kind will not be tolerated These are the latest cases to reach court and should act as a warning to others that we will take action against those who flout the law.

"Your waste is your responsibility and householders need to remember that when disposing of their waste. We would also remind householders that if you pay someone, other than the council, to take your waste away, you should always check they have a waste carrier licence and ask for a waste transfer note.

"If your waste is fly-tipped, you could be fined along with the individual or company you paid to remove it."