A fly-tipper who charged customers for removing their rubbish before dumping it in Heaton Park has been spared jail.
Daniel Mair hoodwinked customers into thinking he was running a legitimate waste removal business by using Gumtree and Yell to advertise.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that from June to September 2018 the 30-year-old used classifieds websites and social media to misleadingly advertise services using three different trading names.
The court heard he also maintained a website for 'Spartan Waste Management' which included the 'Mobius Loop' symbol "synonymous with the responsible removal of waste".
But when customers paid him to remove items, the unlicensed Mair instead illegally dumped the waste at different locations in Newcastle .
Newcastle City Council ’s environmental health team were first on his case when they discovered building waste at the former Siemens Site at Shields Road, Byker , in August last year.
Boulders blocking vehicles from accessing the site had been moved to the side and officers found rubbish including windows and plasterboard.
While investigations were ongoing, the court heard 10 more deposits were made at the same site, and further piles of waste were dumped at Heaton Park.
The court heard a park volunteer spotted a pile of black bin liners, small sections of bricks and mortar, broken up timber and paint cans in two deposits over less than 24 hours.
Upon examination, the waste was traced back to Mair’s business. He had been advertising a licensed business, collecting rubbish in a Mercedes-Benz van for cash payments, and fly-tipping instead of disposing of waste properly.
Mair pleaded guilty to two counts of fly-tipping, contrary to the Environmental Protection Act 1990, at a hearing in May, alongside a charge relating to his deceptive practices under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
He was given 18-month prison sentences for each of the fly-tipping charges, to run concurrently, suspended for two years.
He was also ordered to pay Newcastle City Council £4,254, ordered to carry out 120 hours of community work and complete a 10-day rehabilitative programme.
No separate penalty was given for the consumer protection matter.
Mair, of Shield Street, was also made subject of a two year Criminal Behaviour Order banning him from being involved in any waste disposal or transport activity for profit.
Coun Nick Kemp, Newcastle City Council cabinet member for the environment, said: “Rogue traders like Mair continue to undermine genuine businesses and operate with complete disregard for the law.
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“Their actions damage the environment, pose a danger to children and animals and cost councils up and down the country hundreds of millions of pounds a year to clean up after.
“My thanks go to our staff for bringing Mair to justice and I sincerely hope others will take this a warning that these illegal activities will never be accepted in our city.”
The city council recently launched a city-wide anti-litter campaign which highlighted the cost to the council tax payer of clearing up waste. The campaign ‘Your City, Your Home’ aims to discourage people litter and fly-tipping which last year cost the authority £2m to pick up.
