Litterers in Watford town centre sent to court

3:00pm Wednesday 23rd January 2013 in News Photograph of the Author By Mike Wright, Chief Reporter

Three people have been taken to court and fined after they were caught dropping cigarette butts in Watford town centre.

Zana Hussein from north Watford, Maria Tubbritt from Harrow and Peter Woodward from Chesham were spotted by Watford Borough Council Enforcement Officers littering in June in separate incidents.

All three accepted a fixed penalty notice of £75, with a discount of £50 if paid within seven days.

But despite reminders, the council said all three failed to pay the penalty and were summoned to appear at Watford Magistrates' Court on Monday. All three failed to appear at court and were fined in their absence.

Mr Hussein, of St Albans Road, was fined £200 and ordered to pay costs of £250 and a £15 victim's surcharge.

Ms Tubbritt, of Courtenay Avenue, in Harrow Weald and Mr Woodward, of Cameron Road in Chesham were both fined £150 and ordered to pay costs of £250 as well as a £15 victim's surcharge.

Councillor Derek Scudder, Cabinet member with responsibility for environmental issues said: "The council is working hard to improve the appearance of the town centre and is making good progress in reducing the amount of litter dropped.

"Our anti littering adverts say ‘Love Watford Hate Litter’ and explain that even though you might not consider it, cigarette butts are also litter. However education and promotion alone has not proved a deterrent to some people and these cases once again show that the council takes any form of littering very seriously, and that the courts agree, shown by the substantial nature of the fines.

"We need to change attitudes to litter and make people realise what they are doing matters."

Comments(20)

Mohandas says...
3:46pm Wed 23 Jan 13

Littering and the nasty habit of spitting are growing problems and needs firm action.Until 1990, spitting in public was an offence that carried a £5 fine – but however socially unacceptable it is now, it is not against the law, unless the spit is deliberately aimed at someone else. Perhaps WFC can set an example on the pitch.

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Glynne22 says...
3:52pm Wed 23 Jan 13

That's just stupid!

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Andy1123 says...
3:56pm Wed 23 Jan 13

Rediculous!! Im purposely going to drop fag butts in the town centre now...waste of tax payers money! jobsworths.

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comments says...
4:33pm Wed 23 Jan 13

Isn't it a bit unfair that Mr Hussein has a heavier fine?!

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Mohandas says...
4:44pm Wed 23 Jan 13

Perhaps the weekend night time economy would be a very profitable hunting ground for collecting fines for littering and probably be very cost effective.

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MarsLander says...
5:04pm Wed 23 Jan 13

How much for a vomit?

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TRT says...
5:15pm Wed 23 Jan 13

Fag butts, sweet wrappers, ciggy cellophane, gum... all understandable when dropped deliberately and without thought to the consequence. But I live in fear (overstated it again!) of those times when you pull a hanky out to catch a sneeze and lose a hastily pocketed receipt, or open the car door and don't see a trapped tissue fall, or drop a chip from a take-out baggy.

These people only appeared here due to their non-payment of the original fine anyway.

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Retlas says...
5:20pm Wed 23 Jan 13

If they had paid within seven days it would have meant the matter was finished. If a fixed penalty is ignored you take the consequences.

Simples!

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WatfordAlex says...
7:39pm Wed 23 Jan 13

Andy1123 wrote:
Rediculous!! Im purposely going to drop fag butts in the town centre now...waste of tax payers money! jobsworths.
What a truly inspiring comment. Perhaps if you knew how to spell properly you would be a little less angry?

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Hornets number 12 fan says...
10:39pm Wed 23 Jan 13

How much do the Bin men get fined for dropping litter on their rounds?

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linney says...
1:49am Thu 24 Jan 13

bizzare that names and addresses are given for litter louts yet for more serious crimes no names or personal info given. Oh and yep agree with Watford Alex, Andy needs to sort his spelling so we can understand what wrath he is preparing to cause :/

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LSC says...
1:51am Thu 24 Jan 13

How much do you get fined for blood and teeth on a Saturday night? The PCC just said he is cutting back 60, yes, SIXTY front line police officers, yet we can afford people to enforce this. During office hours and with a pension, of course.

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MarsLander says...
6:34pm Thu 24 Jan 13

WatfordAlex wrote:
Andy1123 wrote:
Rediculous!! Im purposely going to drop fag butts in the town centre now...waste of tax payers money! jobsworths.
What a truly inspiring comment. Perhaps if you knew how to spell properly you would be a little less angry?
Liberal councillor alert!

Petty, pulling people up on their spelling and grammar. No argument, just a personal attack.

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LawAbidingCitizen82 says...
5:07pm Thu 31 Jan 13

As annoying and unsightly litter is, anyone who actually gives their details and accepts the contract(fine) is a fool. There is no actual Law to enforce this fine. And as with many things the real motive behind anti littering is that it is a money making scheme.

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TRT says...
5:13pm Thu 31 Jan 13

Erm... it's a byelaw. Which is a law. You're thinking of parking fines issued on private property.

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LawAbidingCitizen82 says...
3:25pm Fri 1 Feb 13

Am I not correct in thinking littering comes under 'Environmental Protection Act 1990'? Which is not really a Law. Yes it is illegal to litter but its not unlawful.

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TRT says...
3:36pm Fri 1 Feb 13

There is an offence of dropping litter under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005. It is therefore illegal.

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LawAbidingCitizen82 says...
5:46pm Fri 1 Feb 13

Yes you are correct, it is illegal. But it is not unlawful.

An act of parliament/statute is not law. It is only given the power of law when consented to by those governed. In the case of littering people actively consent to the fine by giving their details and signing the piece of paper(making contract)

Common Law is sovereign. Breaking it is unlawful. Illegal only refers to an act of parliament. However some statutes expand on a common law crime, so by committing that illegal act you can also be breaking the law. Others are just money making schemes to rip off the public, nothing to do with common law. Which dont have to be paid, unless of course you decide to consent, but as you gain nothing and are only getting ripped off who would want to knowingly comply.

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TRT says...
5:59pm Fri 1 Feb 13

WTF? I'm not going to get drawn into a debate about the difference between unlawful and illegal. I'd suggest anyone interested in the difference should go and look it up. I can't see why you are even making the point that you are trying unsuccessfully to make. It (littering) carries a fine. The people in the story were fined. They went to court. It was all done by due legal process. It was proper. Of legs to stand on, they had none. The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 makes it an offence to refuse to give your name and address, or to give a false name and address, to a person (e.g. a litter warden) empowered in writing by a body recognised as a litter authority (i.e. a Borough Council). You can ask for the person issuing the fixed penalty notice to show their written authority to issue such a notice, but your earlier comment that anyone giving their details is a fool is plainly and simply wrong. Anyone NOT giving their details when properly asked is committing a criminal offence.

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LawAbidingCitizen82 says...
3:21am Sat 2 Feb 13

I'm just merely pointing out the fact that dropping litter is not a crime. And there is no law to enforce the fines they try to issue. You don't want to debate, that's fine. I wont talk on the litter issue any further.

But I will say "Anyone NOT giving their details when properly asked is committing a criminal offence." is a false statement. You are not obliged to give any details even to a police officer unless of course you are reasonably suspected to have committed a common law crime.

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