South Tyneside Fly-Tipper Jailed

A South Tyneside fly-tipper has been jailed for dumping household and building waste at a popular local beauty spot.

Michael Kerrigan, 46, of St Cuthbert's Avenue, South Shields, was convicted of the unauthorised depositing of waste when he appeared recently at South Tyneside Magistrates' Court.

It is an offence under section 33(1)(a) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to deposit, or knowingly cause or permit controlled waste to be deposited on any land unless authorised by a valid environmental permit.

This offence has a maximum penalty of 6 months' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction; 5 years' custody and/or an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment. I have previously written a case study on fly-tipping, which readers may find of interest.

This case has been reported via a South Tyneside Council press release, which is quite sparse in detail.

Briefly, it would appear that a resident had paid Kerrigan £90 to dispose of their waste. The payment has been made in good faith, with the resident believing that Kerrigan was correctly registered as a waste carrier. The resident must have at least asked Kerrigan the question, because had they not then they too could have been prosecuted.

Kerrigan has transported the waste to Jubilee Wood in Jarrow and dumped it there. Council officers have examined the waste and found evidence linking it back to the resident in question. It would appear that the resident has then provided a statement leading to the identification of Kerrigan and the vehicle used to transport the waste.

Kerrigan is no stranger to the court, which has no doubt contributed to the robust sentence imposed.

Magistrates were of the view that the offence was so serious that only a custodial sentence was appropriate.

Kerrigan was sentenced to 8 weeks' immediate custody.

He was also ordered to pay £150.

Exercising its powers under section 153 of the Sentencing Act 2020, the court also made an order depriving Kerrigan of the vehicle used during the commission of this offence.

Custodial sentences for offences of this nature are very unusual, which suggests there are significant aggravating factors - notwithstanding Kerrigan's horrendous antecedence - that have gone unreported.

A spokesperson for South Tyneside Council said: "Kerrigan dumped this waste in a natural beauty spot after an innocent householder paid him to take away rubbish.

"He committed this offence whilst on licence, and Magistrates have imposed some very heavy penalties in recognition of this.

"As this case has proved, we will always investigate environmental crimes, and where we can identify offenders, will take all action available to us.

"Members of the public can help by being our eyes and ears and reporting any incidents to the council so we can investigate."