The slogan “Don’t mess with Croydon” is no hollow threat, as 17 people found to their cost when they were hauled before court for offences of littering, spitting and urinating in Croydon.
Penalties totalling £4,766 were imposed by Croydon magistrates on the offenders, with one ending the day £720 the poorer for fly-tipping in New Addington.
The fines and costs, handed out on Wednesday (2), were for:
• urinating in North End;
• the repeated dumping of waste in Central Parade in New Addington;
• spitting; and
• dropping cigarette butts.
The prosecutions come as part of the council’s Don’t Mess With Croydon – Take Pride campaign, which involves enforcement action targeting fly-tipping and littering, as well as encouraging local people to help out with council-backed community clean-ups.
Councillor Stuart Collins, deputy leader – Clean Green Croydon
“Spitting, dropping litter and urinating in public don’t belong in our borough, and we’ll take action if we catch you doing it.
“These cases show that we’re honouring our promise to come down hard on offenders, and they sit alongside earlier prosecutions that already appear in our online Hall of Shame.”
The Hall of Shame can be found here and now includes the latest round of prosecutions:
• Billy Irving, aged 64, of Montacute Road in New Addington, was ordered to pay a total of £520 for dumping waste in Central Parade on 18 May.
• Shagufta Bhatti, aged 41, of Alderton Road, Addiscombe, was ordered to pay a total of £270 for dumping household waste in Blackhorse Lane on 12 March.
• Gia Nguyen, aged 27, of Russell Hill Road in Purley, was ordered to pay a total of £270 for urinating in North End on 26 March.
• Rozita Tando, aged 22, of Onslow Road, Broad Green, was ordered to pay a total of £270 for spitting in North End on 19 March.
• Pauline Fraser, aged 45, of Central Parade in New Addington, was ordered to pay a total of £720 for two counts of dumping household waste in Central Parade on 4 April and 3 May.
• Justice Crentsil, aged 54, of Oak Bank in New Addington, was ordered to pay a total of £370 for dumping waste in Oak Bank on 9 April.
• Yasir Abel-Halim, aged 45, of South End, Croydon, was ordered to pay a total of £270 for dropping a cigarette end in George Street on 27 March.
• Ibrahim Barre, aged 43, of Adams Road, Tottenham, was ordered to pay a total of £270 for dropping a cigarette end in Lansdowne Road, Croydon on 27 March.
• Natalie McDermoth, aged 24, of Beulah Road, Thornton Heath, was ordered to pay a total of £420 for dropping a cigarette end in North End on 18 April.
• Corrie Hobbs, aged 45, of St Leonard’s Road in Bexhill, East Sussex, was ordered to pay a total of £270 for dropping a cigarette end in North End on 2 March.
• Carrie Gardiner, aged 28, of North Walk in New Addington, was ordered to pay a total of £132 for dropping a cigarette end in Central Parade on 19 February.
• Paul Havelock, aged 43, of Napier Road, South Croydon, was ordered to pay a total of £132 for dropping a cigarette end in High Street, Croydon, on 11 March.
• JC Soto Hernandes, aged 45, of Chipstead Avenue in Thornton Heath, was ordered to pay a total of £150 for dropping a cigarette end in North End on 18 March.
• Louise Canavan, aged 44, of Greyfields Close, Purley, was ordered to pay a total of £132 for dropping a cigarette end in Park Lane, Croydon, on 19 March.
• Andreea Bortan, of Church Lane, East Finchley, was ordered to pay a total of £150 for dropping a cigarette end in High Street, Croydon, on 8 April.
• Sayed Mujtaba Ali, of Streatham High Road, was ordered to pay a total of £270 for dropping a cigarette end in North End on 13 March.
• Tisha Mattus, aged 28, of Maberley Road in Anerley, was ordered to pay a total of £150 for dropping a cigarette end in North End on 6 April.
Since launching the Don’t Mess campaign in summer 2014, the council has issued more than 800 fixed penalty notices and prosecuted fly-tippers through the courts, including a man jailed for six months in May for dumping 42 tonnes of waste in Waddon.
For more information about the campaign, visit: www.croydon.gov.uk/dontmess
