A senior lecturer at Dundee College has been threatened with a criminal conviction after being accused of dumping a small cardboard box in a rubbish skip.
Michelle Kerr said she has no idea how a box with her name and address on it got into the skip at the Stirling Park allotments, but Dundee City Council is insisting she pay the fixed penalty or be reported to the procurator fiscal.
“You worry about ID theft,” Michelle said. “I think it is quite alarming that something with my name and address on it has got into a skip. It has got nothing to do with me.”
The first she knew of the incident was when a council environmental health officer hand-delivered a £50 fixed penalty notice to her home in Byron Street.
Michelle was told environmental health officers had found “waste” belonging to her in the skip.
She was further informed the skip was reserved for use by the allotments and was “for garden use only” and “any unauthorised use” is considered an offence that can lead to a fine of up to £40,000 and a criminal conviction.
She was told that if she failed to pay the fixed penalty notice “within the allotted time” a report would be sent to the procurator fiscal.
The lecturer challenged the allegations and sought further information. She was told gardeners at the allotments paid to have the skips available for garden waste and they got annoyed because they were being abused by people dumping domestic waste.
Michelle and her husband Fraser went to visit the skip site to check out the situation for themselves.
“I went up to see if there was anything else belonging to me in there,” Michelle said. “There was no sign saying the two skips there were for garden waste. The skips were full of things like TVs, kids’ toys and standard lamps.”
Michelle has a bin shed at her home where she places all her domestic waste. Talking to others, she was told the cardboard box could have fallen out of the bin lorry as it went past the allotments.
Another possible explanation was that refuse collectors in the area often empty bins and pile the rubbish bags in the street to await the arrival of the bin lorry.
Bags are pecked open by pigeons and refuse gets scattered. I have not got a clue how the box got in the skip, but it’s nothing to do with me,” she said.
“I don’t want the hassle, but I am loath to pay because by paying this fine it is tantamount to saying I committed that offence.
How many people has this happened to and they have paid up for fear of a criminal conviction under the Environmental Health Act? I do feel it is an injustice. I have not done anything wrong.”
A council spokesman said, “If fly-tipping material can be identified to a person then he or she can be held liable for that material and a fixed penalty notice issued. If it is not paid then a report is passed to the fiscal.”