Leeds City Council has announced it has successfully prosecuted a man responsible for several flytipping offences across Yorkshire.
The council's new serious environmental crime team (SECT) worked with Wakefield Council to prosecute Daniel Clayton, 29. Clayton pleaded guilty to a series of flytipping-related offences at Kirklees Magistrates Court, and was sentenced to 39 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, as well as 300 hours unpaid work.
SECT officers originally discovered a huge pile of household waste, rubble and tiles off Crag Lane in Alwoodley. It was discovered the rubbish had belonged to a resident in Garforth - when officers interviewed the resident it was found they had paid £120 to a company called Total Waste and Recycling to dispose of it.
That company was later found to have strong links to Clayton, of School Street in Castleford. Officers searched Clayton's social media, where he was promoting the company, and the business phone number also linked to him.
People who paid money to the company were unaware it as flytipping their waste. Officers brought Clayton in for interview, and he could not produce a Waste Carriers Licence or any documents showing he disposed of business waste legally.
Wakefield Council contacted officers during the investigation because household waste had been illegally dumped at the Leeds 4x4 Centre in Rothwell. The vehicle that took the waste was owned by Clayton, and was also part of an investigation into household waste dumped on Oakenshaw Lane in Wakefield also from a vehicle owned by Clayton.
Clayton pleaded guilty to unlawful deposit, failure to comply with waste Duty of Care to take all reasonable measures to prevent flytipping, and control of pollution. His vehicles was forfeited and a criminal behaviour order has been put in place.
Councillor Mohammed Rafique, Leeds City Council’s executive member for environment and housing, said: “This is another great prosecution by the council’s serious environmental crime team and serves as a reminder that we will not tolerate flytipping of any kind. We are grateful to our colleagues in neighbouring Wakefield who we worked closely with on this case.
"I hope this case shows that the council is prepared to use the full force of the law against criminals flytipping and I would urge residents to report any instances of illegal dumping that they see across the city to the team. By working with communities, we can swiftly remove the rubbish which interferes with people’s everyday lives and harms the environment and take action against the offenders.”
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