Supermarket owner ordered to pay almost £1,400 for waste offences

A shopkeeper from Handsworth pleaded guilty of dumping waste from their Nechells-based store in a road half a mile from their own home – and has been made to pay almost £1,400 for their offences.

During a hearing at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court today (10 May 2021), the court heard that approximately 40 bags of waste and cardboard was found on Stafford Road in Handsworth by a member of the council’s Waste Enforcement Team on 11 November 2019.

A search of the waste found till receipts and invoices linked to Subi Supermarket on Revesby Walk in Nechells, about three miles away.

The investigator then went to the supermarket and was told by the shop owner’s husband that they had no waste contract but gave their rubbish to a man who collected it on Sundays.

The shop owner, Mohanampal Sutharsan, aged 40, of Whateley Road, Handsworth, was interviewed under caution and repeated what her husband had said about waste being collected on Sundays. She had no receipts for transfer of waste or a commercial waste contract for her business, which is a legal requirement for firms.

She confirmed that she had disposed of 2-3 bags of commercial waste at home with her domestic waste for two-and-a-half years and had only deposited her waste once on Stafford Road – a short walk from where she lives.

Sutharsan now has a commercial waste contract as requested, but despite this and her other mitigation, she was still guilty of two charges under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and Magistrates handed her fines totalling £350, a victim surcharge of £32 and costs of £1,000 – a grand total of £1,382.

Cllr John O’Shea, Cabinet Member for Street Scene and Parks, said: “It is shocking and saddening to hear of cases like this.

“We all have a shared responsibility to look after our environment, so it is staggering to think that somebody has allowed for their waste to be transported over 3 miles across the city to be dumped in a road a stone’s throw away from where they live themselves.

“Businesses like this are taking advantage of the vast majority of other firms that operate legally and fairly. I’d urge every business to check that they have a waste contract in place to safely dispose of all the trade waste that they produce. Don’t think you can save a few quid, because when we catch you, we will prosecute.

“We won’t stand back and allow this to happen – court cases like this prove that we are determined to get to the root of problems with the street scene in Birmingham and where we have credible evidence, we will continue to prosecute. If there is one positive, it is that the shop keeper now has a legitimate waste contract in place.”

Anyone with information on any instances of fly-tipping should contact the council via its dedicated webpage: www.birmingham.gov.uk/flytipping