Man sentenced to nine months imprisonment for fly tip in Blackburn

A man has been given a nine month custodial sentence for blocking the entrance to Queen’s Park in Blackburn.

On 17th November 2021 the Environmental Crime Team at Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council received a complaint that there had been a large deposit of waste at the entrance to the park in Queen’s Park Road.

The Environmental Crime Team attended and found a large fly tip blocking the entrance to the park and documents found within the waste led the council to three separate properties where work had been carried out on behalf of the council.

The Environmental Crime Team used an established firm, John Hogg Cleaning which had a good reputation and had not previously been connected to any fly tips.

Evidence was then obtained from a CCTV camera placed at the site which confirmed that a John Hogg vehicle had deposited the waste in the early hours of that morning.

Mr Hogg attended for interview and identified an employee who was responsible for that vehicle. He stated that he had been shown where the tip was and given training as to how to deposit his waste in an authorised manner.

Michael Antony Marsden attended for an interview and fully admitted that he was the person responsible for the fly tip, he stated he had run out of time in getting to the tip the previous evening and made a stupid mistake.

He identified himself on the CCTV and the council suspended their contract with the company following the incident.

Mr Marsden was wanted on a warrant between August 2022 and October 2023.

He was sentenced on 29th February 2024 for a number of offences including theft of a motor vehicle and received a total sentence of nine months’ imprisonment.

The Judge sentenced the fly tip on the basis that this was a deliberate and flagrant disregard for the law, there was minor localised harm caused to the environment and low clean-up costs.

The Judge also stated that this was a serious offence which had impacted on others and the defendant was given two months custody in respect of this matter.

Cllr Jim Smith, Executive Member for Environment, said: ‘’This is how serious the courts take fly-tipping and let this imprisonment be a warning to others.

‘’The Council will not tolerate any sort of waste crime in Blackburn with Darwen and we will do everything in our power to take action against those who don’t respect that.’’