Arrest warrants issued as Offaly County Council goes after illegal dumpers

Offaly County Council has taken a number of court actions against individuals found to be partaking in a recent spate of illegal dumping cases in the county.

The council was in court again on Monday, September 17 for four littering/illegal dumping offences in addition to engaging the services of an unauthorised collector.

One of the littering cases centred on the bottle banks in Tesco, Birr where 9 litter fines were issued to one individual for 9 separate littering offences.

The defendant was observed on CCTV each time and was issued with 9 litter fines. The person made no attempt to contact the Council and did not pay the fines, therefore a prosecution was taken under the Litter Pollution Act, 1997, according to the council.

Evidence/footage of the dumping was given in court by OCC and the CCTV company director and the defendant did not turn up in court. The judge issued a bench warrant for his arrest.

A second littering case was issued for waste found in Tullamore and a fine was issued. The person agreed to pay the fine but did not, therefore a prosecution was taken under the Litter Pollution Act, 1997. This person did not turn up in court and the judge adjourned the case. This will be heard at a later date.

In another case, 33 bags of waste were found illegally dumped at the by-pass in Tullamore and evidence was found relating to one individual. This person was prosecuted under the Waste Management Act, 1996 and did not turn up in court on Monday and the judge issued a bench warrant for their arrest. This will be heard at a later date.

Finally, a person was prosecuted for giving waste to an unauthorised person in the shape of an illegal waste collector. This unauthorised person dumped 16 bags of waste in Turraun wetlands; however the defendant would not name the person to whom she paid to take her domestic waste.

This householder was therefore prosecuted for her part in the illegal activity and the Judge imposed community service. The Council is currently taking a separate prosecution against the unauthorised collector.

These actions follow on from a conviction in Naas District Court two weeks ago whereby a person also paid a person, a “man in a van,” to remove their waste and was heavily penalised by the courts.

The key message for the public is to ensure that any person who takes their waste holds a valid Waste Collection Permit. To do so check out, www.nwcpo.ie.