Skip to content

Oxford man ordered to pay more than £3,900 after waste was found dumped at a nature reserve in South Oxfordshire

South Oxfordshire District Council successfully prosecuted an Oxford man after waste was dumped at the RSPB reserve at Otmoor Lane, Beckley.

Jed Denton, aged 27, of Underhill Circus, Barton, Oxford, was due to appear at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Friday 11 December to face four charges under the Environmental Protection Act, namely:

  • Failure to prevent the escape of waste from his control
  • Failure to ensure that his waste was passed to someone authorised to dispose of waste
  • Failure to take measures to prevent someone else from breaching Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (i.e. unlawfully depositing waste)
  • Failure to ensure that there was a waste transfer note detailing the waste, where it originated from and where it was due to go to

As he failed to appear at court, the case was heard in his absence. Previously, he had pleaded not guilty to the duty of care offences.

Magistrates found the case proved against Mr Denton and they found him guilty of all four charges. 

In sentencing, magistrates stated that Mr Denton had not helped himself throughout this case – he had not acted responsibly and had not participated in the investigation. 

They felt the location was carefully chosen – it was out of the way and a piece of land used for a specific purpose and if Mr Denton had exercised his duty of care then this incident would not have happened. 

They imposed a fine of £700 for each of the first three offences. They imposed no penalty for the fourth charge which was in respect of the waste transfer note. 

They ordered Mr Denton to pay compensation to RSPB in the sum of £341.57, prosecution costs of £1,279 and a victim surcharge of £181 – total of £3,901.57.

On 8 July 2019 South Oxfordshire District Council’s received a report from the RSPB regarding a large amount of waste deposited in the car park of their reserve at Otmoor Lane, Beckley over the previous weekend.

An Environmental Enforcement Officer investigated the waste and found personal items addressed to Jed Denton as well as other items addressed to several companies for which Mr Denton had been a director.

Despite numerous requests, Mr Denton failed to provide the council with any information as to how his waste came to be in the flytip.

Cllr David Rouane, South Oxfordshire District Council cabinet member for housing and environment, said: “We always take cases of flytipping extremely seriously.

“We always investigate such cases and would remind people that if they pay other people to take their waste away and it is flytipped they could be prosecuted.”

Check our waste removal pages on how to stay legal if you pay someone to remove your waste.