Fly-tipper caught on camera is prosecuted in court

Buckinghamshire Council’s high-tech methods to catch criminals in the act have once again succeeded as another fly-tipper has been prosecuted and fined.

Lawrence Joseph Rooney, age 25, of Western Avenue, London W3, was found guilty of fly-tipping a bed and mattress at Crow Piece Lane, Burnham in August 2019, following trial at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court earlier this month (1 July).

The court heard that Buckinghamshire Council carries out regular surveillance against fly-tipping offences in the wider Burnham area including at Crow Piece Lane.  On 19 August 2019, a camera captured images of a man dumping waste comprising a divan bed base and mattress at the location. Following checks the vehicle was shown to be insured in Rooney’s name. The driver of the vehicle caught on camera dumping the waste also bore a striking similarity to Rooney himself.

Rooney was interviewed under caution by council investigators but denied dumping the waste.  He said he had sold the vehicle to a man who looked just like him.  He gave the man’s name but could not provide any evidence of the sale such as the DVLA slip or any other paperwork.  He said he would check to see if he could provide the new owner’s phone number but was never able to do so.

In summing up, District Judge Dodds found Rooney’s evidence unconvincing, describing it as “hopeless, entirely unbelievable and vague” and found him guilty of the dumping offence due to the corroboration of the vehicle insurance on top of the striking similarity between Rooney and the man caught in the act on camera.

The judge fined Rooney £750 for dumping the waste and ordered him to pay clean-up, investigation and legal costs of £250 and a victim surcharge of £75, making a total of £1,075.

Peter Strachan, Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment said: “This man flagrantly dumped waste in Buckinghamshire and tried to get away with it. Buckinghamshire Council has a zero-tolerance policy against fly-tipping and we use a range of different means to catch people red-handed. So, the message is clear, don’t fly-tip, it’s illegal and if caught you will be prosecuted.”