A man who gave up his job to care for his young children when his wife died has been fined £500 and threatened with a criminal record after an envelope blew out of his bin.
Martin Fielder was sent a letter six weeks ago from District Enforcement, a private enforcement agency employed by Welwyn Hatfield borough council to issue fixed-penalty notices on commission. The company is paid a portion of the fines it issues.
Fielder said: “The FPN stated that I was in breach of section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 – or the offence of fly-tipping – because a box with my address on had been found 80 metres from my house.
“The letter stated that if the fine was not paid within 28 days the matter would be referred to the magistrates court, where I could go to prison for up to 12 months or receive a bigger fine, or both.”
Six years ago, Fielder agreed with his terminally ill wife, a teacher, that he would give up his job to look after their two children after she died. The family now survive on his savings and his wife’s life insurance.
“I’ve never had any brush with the law before,” said Fielder, a former IT specialist for the David Lloyd leisure company. “I’ve been in a state of constant anxiety ever since. It’s exhausting.”
Fielder’s is the latest in a string of “fly-tipping” fines. A pensioner from north London was fined after she swept part of her street and put the litter in a bin over the road. In another case, Isabelle Pepin was handed an FPN after she left an Ikea cabinet outside her home for people to take.
There are no formal grounds for appealing against an FPN and if you do not pay within 28 days the case will go to court, where fines of up to £2,500 plus costs can be imposed. If the fine is not paid, the court can increase it by 50% and issue an arrest warrant.
Fielder told District Enforcement that he did not know how the envelope had ended up on the grass, but that strong winds the previous night could have blown it out of his recycling bin. He sent them a recent picture of a fox by his tipped-over bin, and evidence of packages that had gone missing over that period.
“I gave them three strong reasons why they couldn’t assume I had done anything wrong,” he said. “They ignored me.”
Fielder complained to his council and told District Enforcement he intended to argue his case in court. On Tuesday the company changed the fine to a £100 littering offence.
He said: “It feels very much like they have a standard process of issuing a big fine, and if you push back, they issue a smaller one instead.”
Fielder is now deciding whether to challenge the fine in court. “It’s tempting to pay because going to court risks an increased fine and a criminal record,” he said. “But I don’t want to capitulate. I haven’t done anything wrong.”
Josie Appleton, the convener of the Manifesto Club, a civil liberties group, said. “These companies are stretching the law beyond any reasonable interpretation, to enable the issuing of penalties.”
A spokesperson for Welwyn and Hatfield borough council said: “District Enforcement officers are trained to carry out enforcement in line with legal standards and the council’s enforcement policy. Measures are in place to ensure a thorough review of disputed penalties. If a dispute remains unresolved, we will carefully assess the evidence before determining any further enforcement action.”
District Enforcement has been approached for comment.
