[ADVICE] Litter fine, anything I can do in this situation?

kev_like

Hey guys, so basically I'm looking for advice in what can I do in this situation.
This fine has only been given to me within the past week but the fine stems from rubbish that was left on the curb for collection in January.

So essentially like always I leave my rubbish in the bin outside of my house, I should note here that I live in a house which contains 3 separate apartments, totally 5 people living in the house. We share a single standard size bin which is done through private collection which is arranged by the landlord.

I got a letter from the Cork City Council then with a fine addressed to myself and a photo of the bin being out by the curb for collection, with a total of 4 black bags beside it. Now I might add(even though in this situation, it probably makes no difference when it comes to appealing) that we didn't leave the bags outside the bin, so it means someone else in this house(which I think they all besides myself and my girlfriend have moved out at this stage) had taken my bags out and put theirs in. They got my name from going through one of the bags and finding a letter addressed to myself.

Now I've tried appealing stating all this information, but I got a response from the litter warden with a clear copy&paste response quoting:
"I refer to the above referenced fine by your letter of appeal regarding same. The fine has been reviewed and has been found to have been validly issued.

The fine was issued under section 3(1) of the 1997 Litter Pollution Act which states: No person shall deposit any substance or object so as to create litter in a public place or in any place that is visible to any extent from a public place.
Litter fine XXXXX refers to a black bag of rubbish dumped in a public place at XXXX, Cork, on Thursday January 2015."

Now I've gotten onto the landlord and it turns out on the date of the fine, which is the date we usually have the bins collected(was never even told the collection date by my landlord), but the private collection truck broke down and never came that day.


So basically will I have to pay this, or does anyone know of anything I can do to re-appeal this or will I just be wasting my time? Any help at all would be appreciated guys, really don't have money to be paying this fine, recently got laid off and €150 is a lot to me right now.


TLDR: I got a fine for black bags containing my rubbish being put without my knowledge onto the curb for collection, collection never arrived that day so I got fine, what do?

The other fella

Get it in writing that the truck broke down and present it to the council.A company is paid to collect that rubbish.If they are not competent of providing a service they charge for, it's hardly your fault.

kev_like

The other fella wrote: »

Get it in writing that the truck broke down and present it to the council.A company is paid to collect that rubbish.If they are not competent of providing a service they charge for, it's hardly your fault.

Yeah that's a good point, will get onto the landlord for this tomorrow!

Losty Dublin

Your options here are to pay the fine, find the housemate who dumped these bags and have them own up or to have your day in court and fight it out.

Given that the litter warden has evidence to point to it being your litter bags, the latter is not going to be a wise option. Also, you may need the services of a solicitor on the day to prepare and defend the summons for you.

Personally speaking, I'd go with the former as being the lesser of three evils if it were me in this situation.

kev_like wrote: »

Hey guys, so basically I'm looking for advice in what can I do in this situation.
This fine has only been given to me within the past week but the fine stems from rubbish that was left on the curb for collection in January.

So essentially like always I leave my rubbish in the bin outside of my house, I should note here that I live in a house which contains 3 separate apartments, totally 5 people living in the house. We share a single standard size bin which is done through private collection which is arranged by the landlord.

I got a letter from the Cork City Council then with a fine addressed to myself and a photo of the bin being out by the curb for collection, with a total of 4 black bags beside it. Now I might add(even though in this situation, it probably makes no difference when it comes to appealing) that we didn't leave the bags outside the bin, so it means someone else in this house(which I think they all besides myself and my girlfriend have moved out at this stage) had taken my bags out and put theirs in. They got my name from going through one of the bags and finding a letter addressed to myself.

Now I've tried appealing stating all this information, but I got a response from the litter warden with a clear copy&paste response quoting:
"I refer to the above referenced fine by your letter of appeal regarding same. The fine has been reviewed and has been found to have been validly issued.

The fine was issued under section 3(1) of the 1997 Litter Pollution Act which states: No person shall deposit any substance or object so as to create litter in a public place or in any place that is visible to any extent from a public place.
Litter fine XXXXX refers to a black bag of rubbish dumped in a public place at XXXX, Cork, on Thursday January 2015."

Now I've gotten onto the landlord and it turns out on the date of the fine, which is the date we usually have the bins collected(was never even told the collection date by my landlord), but the private collection truck broke down and never came that day.


So basically will I have to pay this, or does anyone know of anything I can do to re-appeal this or will I just be wasting my time? Any help at all would be appreciated guys, really don't have money to be paying this fine, recently got laid off and €150 is a lot to me right now.


TLDR: I got a fine for black bags containing my rubbish being put without my knowledge onto the curb for collection, collection never arrived that day so I got fine, what do?