Van’s involvement in Selly Oak dumped waste case costs man almost £4,000

A Coventry man who was found guilty of allowing his van to be used to dump waste in Selly Oak was ordered to pay almost £4,000 after a trial at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on Friday (October 15).

Kulvir Singh Dhaliwal, aged 47, of Crampers Field, Coventry, was in legal control of the vehicle when it was filmed by a local resident on land at the rear of flats on Hollybank Road in Selly Oak on April 3 of this year.

The community-spirited resident witnessed bags of rubbish being thrown onto the car park from the side door of the van.

The vehicle was seen to have different registrations on the front and back, and when investigated by Birmingham City Council’s Waste Enforcement Unit, it was established the rear registration was the true one.

A search of the registration gave the keeper details as Cheers Off Licence Ltd, of Greenwood Avenue, Acocks Green, with the company’s head being based in Coventry.

The council then issued a Statutory Demand for Information, served under The Environmental Protection Act 1990, to Cheers Off Licence Ltd to establish who was in control of the vehicle of the time.

A representative of the firm named Kulvir Singh Dhaliwal as the person in control of the vehicle at the time of the offence. However, Dhaliwal himself did not subsequently respond to the demand.

There were two alternative offences out before the court. The first related to Dhaliwal being the dumper of the waste, the second that he did “knowingly cause controlled waste to be deposited on land that did not have in place an Environmental Permit authorising such deposits”.

He was found guilty of the second offence referenced above, but found not guilty of the first.

This was because the Magistrates were satisfied they were sure Dhaliwal was in control of the vehicle and therefore knowingly caused the waste to be deposited, whether or not he gave any instructions for this to be done.

The Magistrates found he had allowed others to use his vehicle and therefore had knowingly caused the waste to be deposited. However, they did not find him guilty of the first offence because they were not sure that it was actually him who had made the deposit from the vehicle on that day.

In sentencing, Dhaliwal was fined £1,760, ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £176 and made to pay a further £2,047.20 in costs.

Cllr John O’Shea, Cabinet Member for Street Scene and Parks and Birmingham City Council, said: “In recent months it has become clear from a series of court cases that we and the people of Birmingham will not allow environmental criminals to use our city as a dumping ground.

“Where we have credible evidence that meets the requirements of the courts, we will prosecute those with no regard for our neighbourhoods.

“I want to place on record my thanks to the residents who caught them in the act and asked us to investigate. I also thank the Waste Enforcement Team at the council for their tireless work to keep our city as clean and green as possible.”

If anyone has any information on fly-tipping incidents in the city, they should report via www.birmingham.gov.uk/fly-tipping