A serial fly-tipper with no regard for the environment has been sentenced today in Cardiff Magistrates Court. Nicholas Date pleaded guilty to 2 charges of unlawfully depositing waste on land in Curran Embankment, Cardiff in 2009.
He received a six month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, 200 hours community service, a 5 year ASBO, £200 costs and must wear a tag between the hours of 8pm and 7am. He was imprisoned for similar offences in January 2004.
Cardiff Council’s Enforcement Unit was alerted to illegally dumped waste at the location by a local business. The dumping was captured on CCTV, and the vehicle that was used was found to be owned by Mr Date. The investigation traced the waste back to a Cardiff resident who had been approached by Mr Date and paid him £90 to remove waste from the side of her house. As she paid by cheque, the Enforcement Unit was able to trace that her cheque was paid into Mr Date’s bank account.
Following the first offence, covert CCTV cameras were put in place around Curran Embankment. Four weeks after the first offence, the cameras captured Mr Date dumping two large oil drums containing used motor oil in the same location. Not content with dumping the oil, the camera footage caught him removing the lids of the drums and tipping them over causing the used oil to leak out, making a significant mess in the area.
Cllr Margaret Jones, Executive Member for the Environment said, “I am pleased that Nicholas Date has been brought to justice for his unacceptable behaviour. I hope this sends a very clear message out that such an outrageous environmental violation will be punished in a court of law. This conviction underlines the excellent work undertaken by Cardiff Council’s Enforcement Unit in combating this serious offence and I congratulate the Unit for ensuring this public nuisance was convicted. We won’t rest easy until this social menace has been eradicated.”
