Doing a favour for someone else costs HGV driver £2,423.46 for waste carrier offences

Driving a HGV carrying garden waste, wood and fencing as “a favour” for someone else has landed a man with a £2,423.46 bill after he was taken to court by Ashford Borough Council’s Environmental Crime Team.

Shane Jestin-Cull failed to attend Folkestone Magistrates Court on Monday 18 July so a lawyer for the Council applied for the matter to be heard in his absence. This was agreed by the court and after considering the prosecution evidence, the district judge found Jestin-Cull guilty of two offences.

He was fined £1,000 and £440 for the respective offences and the Council were awarded full costs, amounting to £839.46. With the addition of the victim surcharge of £144, Jestin-Cull must pay a total of £2,423.46 to the court within 28 days.

The court heard that on the 2 February 2022, the Council’s Environmental Crime Team were contacted by Kent Police’s Rural Task Force stating that they had stopped a heavy goods grabber vehicle on the Orbital Business Park, Ashford. The police requested attendance by the team to investigate possible waste offences.

Two members of the team attended and met the driver, Shane Jestin-Cull who was being spoken to by police officers. The driver provided a Waste Transfer Note and the team photographed the waste being carried – a mix of garden waste, wood and fencing.

The team was then shown an Environment Agency waste carriers licence in the name of a different man. Jestin-Cull stated that he was doing a favour for the licence holder and that he was not an employee.

Jestin-Cull was served with a Section 5 Notice, requiring him to produce his, or his employer’s, authority to transport waste. He told the team that he was in the process of applying for an Environment Agency waste carriers licence.

The court heard that Jestin-Cull subsequently failed to produce the authority as required and so Ashford’s team sent him a Fixed Penalty Notice. Despite a reminder being sent, there has been no communication from the defendant and no payment received for the Fixed Penalty Notice.

Jestin-Cull was summoned to appear before Folkestone Magistrates Court on 18 July in relation to two offences namely, carrying in the course of his business controlled waste without having the appropriate registration, contrary to section 1(1) of the Control of Pollution (amendment) Act 1989 and failing without reasonable excuse to provide the Council with his or his employers authority to transport such waste as required by a Section 5 Notice, contrary to section 5(7)(a) of the Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989.

Ashford Borough Council’s Environmental Crime Team needs your help in clamping down on illegal fly-tipping across the borough. Many of the leads that end with offenders being caught come from residents alerting the Team to fly-tipping incidents by using the Report It page on the council's website.