A Medway man has been fined and ordered to pay costs after being found guilty of obstructing an investigation into a fly-tipping offence in Gravesham.
The case follows a fly-tip in Buckland Road, Luddesdown, in January 2023, which was traced to an address in Strood.
When interviewed, the owner of the property told Gravesham Borough Council’s environmental enforcement investigators that it had been cleared by Diery Karim.
Karim was in turn traced to an address in Hone Street, Rochester, but failed to cooperate with the investigation and was prosecuted under Section 110 of the Environment Act 1995.
Having pleaded not guilty to the fly-tipping offence at an earlier hearing, Karim failed to appear to answer the charges at a hearing at Folkestone Crown Court on 9 July.
While there was insufficient evidence to prove that he was responsible for the fly-tipping, Karim was found guilty in his absence of the obstruction offence having failed to provide documents required by the investigating officer.
He was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £1,490 in costs, compensation of £266.44, and a victim surcharge of £400.
Commenting after the case, Cllr Emma Morley, Gravesham Borough Council’s cabinet member for operational services, said: “While this case has taken a long time to come to court, it should serve as a warning that failure to co-operate with our investigations into fly-tipping offences will be treated just as seriously by us as the act itself.
“Ignoring our requests for information and hoping we will just go away isn’t an option.”
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Report fly-tipping in Gravesham online or if you have any information relating to any environmental crime in the borough you can email Tipoff@gravesham.gov.uk