Litterbugs fined over cigarettes
Wednesday 22nd April 2009, 11:58AM BST.
Magistrates have ordered four Shropshire people to pay more than £400 each after they were caught dropping cigarette ends in Telford town centre.
The four, whose cases were heard at Telford Magistrates Court, failed to pay fixed penalty notices after police community support officers spotted them dropping the butts last year.
None of the offenders attended court, but were convicted in their absence and fined £100 each.
They were each also ordered to pay £300 costs and a £15 victim surcharge at the hearing on Monday.
Susan Meredith, 28, from Turbervill Close, Redhill, Telford, had been spotted dropping a cigarette end on the floor outside Home Bargains, Wrekin Retail Park, on December 12.
Gary Humphries, 40, of Webb Crescent, Dawley, Telford, committed the offence outside AJ Premier Stores in Dawley on December 16.
Scott Wigley, 21, from Whitecroft Road, Shrewsbury, and 18-year-old Daniel Chander, of Daywell, Hollinswood, Telford, were both fined for dropping cigarette ends on the floor outside Telford Bus Station on December 21.
The court heard the offenders failed to pay a £75 fixed penalty notice.
Dave Morgan, Telford & Wrekin Council spokesman, said: “The council has to collect and dispose of more than 200 tonnes of litter from the borough’s streets, costing more than £2 million per year.”
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These people have got the fag end of justice. But who’s complaining?
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Butt it out with the fag jokes
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When I am next in Telford I will put mine in the bin…..wonder if I’ll get done for arson then???
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You would have thought that somebody at the Star would have filtered the above comments out
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good good good
im glad litterers deserve all they get
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I’m a non smoker and they deserve everything they get – how about catching careless car, van and lorry offenderes?
But, I thought the town centre was a privately owned area, able to impose it’s own car parking charges, so how come publicly funded PSCOs are covering their litter problems? Does the centre pay for policing?
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Good news for T & W in the battle vs litter droppers. If we could have more fines please for the following.
1) Gangs of youth over 4 together loitering on streets and the towncentre.
2) Dog owners not picking up dog mess
3) Loud music
4) Consumption of alcohol outside
5) BBQ’s
6) Not walking in a correct manner, walking slouched over deserves a fine
7) Trolleys being taken by youths
8) Anyone driving over 60mph down the EP
9) People without children using parent and child parking spaces
If all these are consider Telford will be a much happier place
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It’s great to hear that they’re on the case and hitting the litterbugs where it hurts. Now that the highest priority problems are out of the way, perhaps they can deal with the thugs with iron bars and baseball bats in the Town Park.
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“Victim surcharge”?
Who were the victims of discarded cigarette ends??
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WELL DONE SHROPSHIRE COUNCIL – WE SHOULD FINE THEM ALL MORE
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Are there bins outside the shops for cigarette butts .?? If not why not… If i put it in the bin before it out fully out OH sorry . Or if i throw it on the street to put your foot on it to put in bin so it out, would i be fine for that? help the smokers help you all..
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Y Mab Darogan can I also suggest parents who cause a traffic hazard by clogging roads outside school to pick up their overweight kids to take them the full 200yds home? Remember fining people is one thing getting them to pay ( especially if they haven’t given their correct details) is another.
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This is all very petty! They should spend some time trying to catch the teenagers tearing around Stirchley on mini moto bikes. That would be worthwhile.
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I’m not happy about this at all.
A fine of £100, with costs of £300, and a “victim” surcharge – (when clearly there was “no victim”) seems totally at odds with the alleged offence.
I say “alleged” – becuase, what exactly constitutes “dropping” cigarette butts?
and
Just how did the community support officers (CSO) spot and confirm this dastardly act …
Were they watching the offenders whilst smoking, “waiting” to see if they would commit the said offence?
or…
Did they just “drop lucky” and see, at the precise instant… all 4 people drop their ciggarette butts at the same time?
Sounds a bit suspicious to me –
And – what if something drops accidentally from your pocket, BUT the CSO doesn’t actually see this event for what it is – and mistakenly thinks you did it on purpose – as might have happened with the 4 people mentioned here? what then ?
This really is a worrying development for life in the UK 21st century style.
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And I wonder what the chances are of these people paying this fine?
Come on T&W, if you pick up 200tonnes from the streets, then surely 4 fag ends wont hurt?
Then these CSO’s can do something usefull, like join the fruitless police chase of two boys on a stolen pedal cart(http://www.shropshirestar.com/2009/04/23/theft-of-kart-sparks-huge-police-chase/) so the streets of Telford don’t look like something from the Keystone Cops!
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So. Again.
Who are the victims benefiting from this “Victim Surcharge”??
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doesn’t matter what kind of rubbish they drop, they should be fined, along with the parents, like Malcy said, clogging up roads dropping off their kids at school. Double the fines for bad dog owners leave dog mess everywhere.
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The Victim Surcharge was introduced in 2007, under the Criminal Justice Act 2003.
Any one convicted of any offence (with a few exceptions) where a punishment, other than an absolute discharge is imposed, is subject to the surcharge, currently £15.
The money raised from the surcharge are used to fund a range of services for victims of crime and witnesses.
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Would have thought fag ends would hardly count as litter compared lot of other things discarded on our streets, our brave CSOs only seem to pick soft targets from what I can see?
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