A fly-tipper who dumped waste twice in the same street ditched his court appeal when confronted with pictures taken on a resident’s mobile phone – and incurred £5,670 costs and 250 hours’ unpaid community service.
After borrowing the witness’s phone to zoom in, Miss Recorder Presland asked Nuhur Mulindwa’s counsel whether he was really claiming not to be the man featured in the pictures – and strongly indicated the defendant may wish to consider his appeal, which if unsuccessful could result in an even harsher sentence.
Mulindwa, aged 56, of Shrublands Avenue in Shirley, then abandoned the case at Croydon Crown Court on Friday 3 March – and was ordered to pay an additional £1,500 costs on top of the original sentence of £4,170 costs with 250 hours’ of unpaid community service and a £60 victim surcharge.
“This is a great result. Mr Mulindwa’s decision to appeal his original sentence speaks volumes about the sheer arrogance of fly-tippers, who think they can dump rubbish on our streets and get away with it – in some cases even after they have been found guilty in court.
“But the case also says a lot about the tenacity of our residents and our council – who are equally determined that they will not put up with fly-tipping anymore and will robustly defend any challenges to prosecutions. Big thanks to the resident who came forward with this evidence and helped us to bring this perpetrator to justice – I would urge others to do the same and back our Don’t Mess With Croydon campaign by helping us take action against people who dump rubbish illegally in our borough.”
Councillor Stuart Collins, deputy leader – Clean Green Croydon
Croydon magistrates sentenced Nuhur Mulindwa for two counts of fly-tipping on 11 August 2016, after he was found guilty at a hearing on 5 August 2016.
The court heard how he was seen in Bramble Close on 21 May 2015 dumping rubbish, including old bits of carpet. Weeks later on 15 June 2015, he was seen again in the same street fly-tipping waste including furniture, poles and wood.
At sentencing, the court heard that at the time of the offences Mulindwa had been running a registered waste collection business called Enrichment Internations Ltd, which has since closed.
Sentencing him last August, District Judge Kamlesh Kaur Rana had said: “These are very serious offences which you committed deliberately and you committed for financial gain.”
Croydon Council has prosecuted 143 people for dumping rubbish illegally on the borough’s streets since the campaign started in 2013.
ENDS
