Man fined for illegally carrying scrap metal

A LLANELLI man has been fined £680 plus £200 court costs for illegally carrying scrap metal.

John Michael Murphy, aged 25, of Pen-Y-Bryn, Bynea, was also ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge by magistrates.

The case was listed for trial, but Murphy entered a guilty plea to three separate charges brought by Carmarthenshire County Council.

The court heard that Murphy was stopped by police on July 25 last year on the A448 near Pibwrlwyd in a blue Ford Transit pick up truck carrying large consignment of scrap metals including a derelict motor vehicle.

Murphy told the police officer he was a registered waste carrier but was unable to produce waste transfer notes as required by law.

The officer told Murphy he would be reported to the council for the offence.

The council’s environmental enforcement team checked with the Environment Agency and established that there was no record of Murphy being registered as a waste carrier.

A letter was sent asking him to provide evidence that he was registered as a waste carrier.

A statutory notice was also sent asking Murphy to provide information including where the scrap metal had been deposited and what payment he had received for the items concerned within seven days.

No response to the statutory notice was received. Furthermore Murphy had not produced evidence that he was a registered waste carrier.

A further check was made with the Environment Agency and although Murphy had applied for registration as a waste carrier, he was refused.

Murphy was known by the council and had previously been convicted for a similar offence. He failed to respond to correspondence and had not complied with the statutory notice.

Murphy was fined £80 for carrying waste without being registered, £400 for not having waste transfer notes and £200 for failing to respond to the statutory notice.

The council now hopes this case will act as a warning to others.

Executive Board Member for Environmental and Public Protection Cllr Jim Jones said: “All businesses that carry waste, including scrap merchants, skip companies, builders and gardeners, must have a waste carriers licence. They must also make sure they have the correct paperwork for all the waste they carry and only use licensed waste sites to dispose of their rubbish.

“Hopefully this fine will help to get the message across that anyone caught illegally transporting waste will be prosecuted.

“It is important, not only to prevent fly-tipping, but also to prevent the increasing number of metal thefts throughout the country.”

The council works closely with the police, through the Community Safety Partnership, to tackle the unauthorised movement of scrap metal in Carmarthenshire.