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Don’t get me wrong on this one; I am no woolly liberal, I also detest litter bugs and have come close to blows with thoughtless scumbags who I have confronted after watching them chuck rubbish from car windows or as they walk down the street, but having said that, some of the fines imposed on what could be described as ‘minor league’ litter bugs seem astronomical to me. What do you think? Here are a few that caught my eye from the November issue of The Tameside Citizen newspaper.Graham Taylor of Manor Road, Haughton Green. £500 fine with £315 costs for dropping a cigarette end in Duce Street, Ashton.
Nicola Bramwell from New Mills. £100 fine with £315 costs for dropping a cigarette on Market Street, Hyde.
The large fines given to those guilty of fly tipping or dumping unauthorised commercial waste is totally justified, but £815.00 for dropping a cigarette butt – surely this can’t be right?
5 comments:
Its even worse than that, one woman who was found with a lock-knife got a conditional discharge! (See last week's Advertiser).
It would be interesting to know whether these people were OUTSIDE A PUBLIC HOUSE at the time...Hmmmmm Oh yes, and who gets the fine / costs!
Also I see that there is a campaign against litter dropping being advertised on the back of buses in Tameside, one wonders where this leaves the "Independance of the Judicary"? But then, how many magistrates are also councillors, relatives of councillors or nomineees of council??
This is in total contrast to the "softly softly" approach to the dumping of litter in the "gridiron" area behind / near to Hyde Town Hall, where the council plan to distribute "multi-language leaflets" to the residents asking them to stop dumping household refuge (As discussed at the last Hyde District Assembly).
Think I might raise this at the next District Assembly in Ashton
Tony DJ, it is crucial you raise this issue at the next DA. We live in a multicultural society and we should all be treated equal. If certain sections of 'the community' are creating litter because of their cultural background, they must be made to understand that they are now in Britain and dumping trash in alley ways is against the law in Britain. It is not fair that Graham Taylor from Denton gets fined £815 for dropping a cigarette end, but Allah Ahkbar from Werneth gets let off for dumping the contents of an entire dustbin.
Justice and fairness for all!
Check these links regarding Human Rights and the reform of the Army's court martial system.
It was decided that the "prosecutory and adjudicatory" functions should be seperated and that under the old system "junior army personnel who sat on the tribunal were open to outside pressure from senior officers."
I make no comment on any specific case, but given the fact that local councils MAKE the rules and local councils ENFORCE the rules it is argueable that anyone connected to the local council should not JUDGE those accused of breaching the rules. Comments?
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20050119/ai_n9692354
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article220257.ece
You are absolutely right Tonydj.
The founding fathers of the United States made sure the Executive, Judiciary and Legislature were separate.
Regretably I was unavailable to go to the District Assembly on Wednesday (12th) so my question had to be 'asked' by one of the panel. It was deliberately mis-read and censored. In stead of being read thus:-
"Why was a man fined £500 with £350 costs for dropping a cigarette butt in Ashton (As reported in the paper TAMESIDE CITIZEN) while the response to the dumping of domestic refuse in Hyde's "Grid iron" area behind the Town Hall is to distribute multi-language leaflets asking the residents concerned to stop (As discussed at the last Hyde DA)
Why the different treatment? And while we are on the subject, who gets the fines and costs?"
The part regarding the treatment of littering in Hyde was not read out, instead one of the councillors dismissed the matter as one of "Different magistrates, different fines"
In case anyone thinks we are making this up, I enclose a quote from thee Hyde District Assembly Minutes of 30 July 2007
"Miss Francis of Lord Derby Road, Gee Cross, asked if Members of the Werneth Ward considered there was social fragmentation within the Ward and enquired if they could suggest ways of building bridges and understanding across cultural boundaries.
In response Councillor Bell stated that they considered the Ward an inclusive society where everyone was equal and had the same rights. He added that one of the major problems which had been highlighted in the area was continued problems with street cleanliness and gave details of the working being undertaken with the Bangladeshi Welfare Association to address that problem. "
FOUR MONTHS later at the meeting of 19th November they were STILL discussing leafletting.......
meanwhile in Ashton the locals are being stiffed for £815.
It is this discriminatory treatment I was asking about
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