Dad fined £600 for ‘fly-tipping’ envelope with his address on outside own flat

A dad has been fined £600 for ‘fly-tipping’ after an envelope was found apparently discarded outside his home.

Robb McGeary, 43, who lives in an apartment complex in Ealing, west London, says he did ‘exactly what you’re supposed to’ and sorted his waste into the right communal bins.

But he ended up being sent a penalty charge in the post after council workers sent to investigate rubbish-dumping nearby found an envelope bearing his address among the litter.

Personal trainer Robb says the council has made him feel like a criminal over the January 5 incident.

He insists the mess was made by homeless people or drug users who often rummage through the bins for scraps.

The area is also a well-known fly-tipping ‘hot spot’, Robb added.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, he accused town hall bosses of a ‘complete lack of common sense’, saying: ‘Anyone could have taken that item out of a bin, moved it, or added it to another bag.

‘There’s no attempt to consider that, just a straight jump to issuing a penalty and a trial.

‘It makes me feel like I’m being put in the same bracket as people doing crimes on the streets.’

Robb claims a mound of old mattresses and furniture, drug paraphernalia and piles of bin bags had been left dumped for weeks before the bins were ‘emptied across the street’.

It was another week before refuse workers were sent around to clear it away, Robb added, saying that must have been when they found the envelope addressed to him.

The dad said the process has been ‘stressful, frustrating’ and ‘a bit worrying’.

He lives with his partner, who is the full-time carer for her autistic daughter, and their five-month-old twins.

‘I’m the only one working and I’ve had to work less to look after her and our twins,’ he said. ‘I don’t have the money [to pay the fine] and I shouldn’t have to anyway.’

He said: ‘The entire case against me comes down to a single item found in a bin bag in my flat’s communal bins with my name and address on it. No CCTV. No witnesses. They’ve sent me a fixed penalty notice for £600.’

Robb said the communal bins outside are unsecured and ‘constantly overflowing’.

When the rubbish wasn’t cleared ‘for well over a month’ at the start of the year, he said he took photos of the state of the bins which ended up serving as his ‘counter-evidence’.

He added: ‘I did exactly what you’re supposed to do, put my rubbish in the correct bins. Not on the floor or in the street. What happened after that is completely out of my hands.

‘One night the entire bins were emptied across the street, I have many photos. This wasn’t cleared up for well over a week and the day before the area was cleared I took another photo.

‘At 7am the next morning they opened a bag, found my address – which coincidentally just so happened to be at the exact point they tore the bag – and classed that as evidence of fly-tipping.’

The letter from Ealing council says an investigation was launched into a ‘suspected waste offence’ and that ‘evidence containing your name and address was found amongst the waste’.

Robb said he was initially given a £400 fine – which increased to £600 after the council turned down his appeal.

‘It genuinely feels like I’m “guilty until proven innocent”,’ he said.

‘I will not be paying and am fully prepared to face them [the council] in court as I feel I have more counter evidence than they have evidence.’

An Ealing council spokesperson said: ‘We issue fix penalty notices either because we witnessed the offence or our investigations lead us to conclude an individual has committed an offence. 

‘Before a fixed penalty notice is issued, we write to the alleged fly-tipper asking if they can explain why their waste might have been found fly-tipped.

‘Fly-tipping is a significant issue for residents and we are cracking down on this criminal activity.’

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