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Father of four taken to court and fined ... because he overfilled his wheelie-bin by just four inches
Last updated at 17:22pm on 22.04.08With his rubbish collected only once a fortnight, Gareth Corkhill's wheelie bin was so full the lid wouldn't shut.
And for that, the father of four finds himself with a criminal record.
Magistrates convicted the 26-year-old bus driver after hearing evidence that the lid was four inches ajar, which is against rules to stop bins overflowing.
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Four inches too far: Gareth Corkhill with wife Claire and son Josh
He was ordered to pay £210 - a week's wages - after he declined to pay an on-the-spot fine imposed by the local council's bin police, who visited him wearing stab-proof vests and carrying photographic evidence of his crime.
To add insult to injury he was told to pay a £15 victim surcharge to help victims of violence - despite there being no victim - and threatened with prison if he failed to pay.
Rapists, murderers and other violent criminals who have earned a jail sentence rather than a fine are immune from the penalty.
Yesterday the council, Copeland in Cumbria, said that Mr Corkhill's family had caused problems for "the battle to reduce waste".
His penalty compares with the typical on-the-spot fine of £80 given to shoplifters - even repeat offenders.
For failing to pay his fine Mr Corkhill, from Whitehaven, will now have a criminal record which he will have to disclose if he applies for a job, credit or a mortgage over the next five years.
Even after that he will have to reveal his crime if he applies for a job in the NHS, working with children, in a bank, or as a security guard.
"I can't believe I now have a criminal record for simply putting rubbish in my bin," he said. "My only crime was to leave the lid slightly open. Now I might go for a job interview and be better than someone else but the employer will see that officially, I am a criminal.
"They won't know the details of what I did. They won't know that I only put a little too much rubbish in the bin."
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Mr Corkhill's troubles began last summer when the two enforcement officers arrived at his home. They cautioned him before issuing a £110 on-the-spot fine for failure to close the lid of his wheelie bin.
He was told he had six months to pay or he would be taken to court. By January he had still not paid and was sent a summons under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005, which gave powers to town hall officials to hand out fines to rubbish rulebreakers.
Last week Whitehaven magistrates convicted him in his absence of "over-filling the receptacle used to dispose of waste" - a criminal offence.
They added £100 towards prosecution costs on top of the original fine, together with the £15 surcharge designed to help victims of violence.
Mr Corkhill, who takes home £900 a month, added: "I would have been better off throwing my rubbish across the front garden - at least then I would only have received an £80 fine for fly-tipping.
"It's outrageous what they've done to me. We got a leaflet, like everyone else, nine months previously, explaining the new council policy which also made it a fineable offence for putting your bin out any earlier than 7am - a curfew for a bin.
"My wife and I put it in the recycling box and continued as normal. Then this happens. What can I do? If I didn't pay they said that I could go to prison. They also threatened to clamp my car and send the bailiffs round.
"We recycle everything we can, including plastics, cardboard, tins, glass and paper. We have got a black box that is always full."
A spokesman for Copeland Council said Mr Corkhill's recollection of the distance his bin lid was open was wrong and it was "more like seven inches". He added: "We will continue to crack down on the problem of overflowing bins."
The case comes against a background of growing numbers of on-the-spot fines handed out by bin police to those who break rubbish rules.
In the 12 months up to April last year, nearly 44,000 were fined because they failed to close bin lids, put their rubbish out on the wrong day, or left extra black bags alongside their bins.
Reader views (48)
Here's a sample of the latest views published. You can click view all to read all views that readers have sent in.
I can see no justification for fining him.
Surely a fitting penalty for any such "offence" would simply be not to collect his rubbish. If they don't like his bin, then they don't empty it.
- David Le Fevre, Enfield, UK
This is disgraceful! What a disproportionate response to a bin lid being a few inches from closing: so what, what's the big deal? Perhaps the council should get off its collective backside and empty people's rubbish every week. With 3 kids, it's not surprising this family struggles to fit its rubbish in one wheelie bin emptied fortnightly. The only ways to reduce waste are (i) to reduce what you purchase, (2) leave packaging at the retail outlet, or (iii) force manufacturers to use less packaging in the first place.
- Adam, London, UK
When I saw the headline and the photo, I thought this unlucky chap had been taken to court in my home town. I was really cheesed off that my local council had acted in such a petty way.
But it actually happened hundreds of miles away!
So has someone taken a Cardiff wheelie-bin to Cumbria for a photo -shoot and - terror upon terror - what's the penalty for doing that?
- Mike, Cardiff, Wales
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