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Council prosecution sees serial fly-tipper handed 30-month custodial sentence

A defendant found guilty of five separate fly-tipping offences has been given a 30-month custodial sentence, following a prosecution brought by Portsmouth City Council.

Robert Hey, 40, of Upper Arundel Street was sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court last month.

Hey, who ran a waste removal company known as Star Recycling, committed fly-tipping between 31 January 2018 and 13 September 2018 for financial gain.

The council said: “He deposited large quantities of waste in urban and countryside settings. On sentencing, the judge commented that the fly-tipping created an 'absolutely dreadful eyesore' that would have taken a lot of work to clear up, it was depressing to the wider community and the situation was made worse by Mr Hey ignoring the warning letters from PCC, not attending interview and verbally abusing others during the last incident. Hey was described as 'reckless, irresponsible and calculating'.”

The defendant failed to attend the Magistrates Court on nine occasions resulting in a warrant for his arrest being issued.

When he did attend, Hey pleaded not guilty to the charges, with the exception of failure to produce a Waste Carrier Licence and Waste Transfer notes, for which he received a £100 fine. He did not attend the trial and was found guilty by the Magistrates in his absence. The case was then referred to the Crown Court for sentencing.

Cllr Dave Ashmore, Portsmouth’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, said: "This prosecution demonstrates that we will take action against people who fly-tip and I hope the sentence will act as a deterrent and encourage people to dispose of their waste responsibly and not be tempted to fly-tip.

"I would also remind residents that if they're going to pay someone to take away their waste they must use someone with a waste carrier licence as they're committing an offence if they don't."

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