Bathtub dumpers ordered to soak up hefty fine

Published 23 December 2024

Two Nottinghamshire residents must pay more than £4,000 after admitting illegally dumping a bathtub, tyres and a large amount of renovation waste near Didcot.

Pamela Whata, 47, and Willard Kurisa, 47, of Dryden Dale, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, appeared at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Friday 13 December where they both pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawfully depositing waste, commonly known as fly-tipping.

The incident was reported to South Oxfordshire District Council on 14 August 2024 after a large fly-tip was discovered on an unnamed road, off the A417, at Aston Tirrold.

Council Envirocrime Enforcement Officers investigated and found evidence that traced back to Ms Whata. In an interview on 6 September, Ms Whata and Mr Kurisa confirmed that they were both responsible for dumping the waste, having brought it to Oxfordshire in a hired van, from their address in Nottinghamshire.

Ms Whata and Mr Kurisa had loaded the waste into the van with the view of disposing the waste at a local recycling centre enroute to their rented property in Oxfordshire. However, they were turned away from all the recycling centres in Oxfordshire due to the size of the van that they had hired. They claimed that they had previously used a recycling centre in Worksop with the same hired van, and accepted in court that there was no reason why they could not have taken the waste back to Worksop with them to dispose of it properly. Instead they made the decision to fly tip their waste and drove to a quiet rural area to do so.

Taking early pleas into account, Mr Kurisa was fined £1,143 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £457 and £614 towards prosecution costs. Ms Whata was fined £961 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £384 and £614 towards prosecution costs, total of £4,173.

Councillor Sam James-Lawrie, South Oxfordshire District Council Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “There is no excuse for fly tipping. It is a serious offence that impacts our neighbourhoods and environment. No matter where you are in the country, if you dump rubbish in our district, we will always aim to find and then prosecute you.”

If you come across fly-tipping or notice anything suspicious, please visit southoxon.gov.uk/fly-tipping.