Two men in the dock for dropping litter (From Swindon Advertiser)
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Two men in the dock for dropping litter
8:27pm Monday 17th October 2011 in News By Matthew Edwards
John Barrowman will be performing at the Oasis
TWO men who dropped litter in the town centre have each been fined £60 by Swindon Magistrates’ Court.
Matthew Badham, 40, was caught dropping a cigarette in the town centre on May 12 while Liam Sargent, 22, was caught leaving a packet of crisps on a chair in Wharf Green on March 10.
When he was stopped by an officer he gave a false name and address, which the court also fined him for.
The pair, who now have criminal records, were taken to court after failing to pay the £80 on-the-spot fine issued under powers recently adopted by the local authority.
Phillip Wirth, prosecuting, said each man was issued with a fixed penalty notice on November 6, but failed to pay within the 14-day limit.
Notices for littering are £50 if paid within 10 days or £80 if paid within 14 days.
They both pleaded guilty to dropping litter in a place open to the air, contrary to the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Badham said: “I was outside the O2 store in town when my girlfriend called me into the store so I stamped out the cigarette on the floor, but when I went back to pick it up the officer was there.”
He was fined £60 for the offence and made to pay £80 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.
Sargent, of Cheney Manor Road, was fined £60 for dropping the litter and £40 for giving the false name and address. He was also made to pay £150 court costs and a £15 victim surcharge.
Mr Wirth said the council always took people to court if they failed to pay fixed penalty notices.
“Although the offence itself is not that serious, you are urged to prosecute when there is a widespread problem and Swindon Council has a widespread problem with littering,” he said.
Passing sentence, Mallathy Sitaram, chairman of the bench, said that it was important to stop littering in town, which made it an unpleasant place to visit.
She said: “You might think this is a lot of fuss for a cigarette butt, but as the council lawyer said the council spends a lot of money keeping the streets clean.
“If we see a pile of cigarette butts we find it disgusting and it puts people off coming into the town.”
Comments(29)
Robh
says...
11:01pm Mon 17 Oct 11
How many more services are we going to lose?
They can't carry on with increasing rates so are reducing services year on year.
Bobfm ,
says...
11:35pm Mon 17 Oct 11
Robh wrote:So let me guess this right? You're saying that we have a right to drop litter because we pay council tax?
Pathetic. We pay our rates which includes street cleaning but now the council doesn't want to do it. How many more services are we going to lose? They can't carry on with increasing rates so are reducing services year on year.
.
And you say increasing rates? Hasn't Council Tax been frozen for 2 years, which means, in real terms, the Council has less money to spend due to inflation?
.
Maybe not wasting money clearing up after the feckless and selfish may help?
.
Littering is a choice, particularly in the town centre with so many bins. Many smokers seem to think it is their "human right" to stub their butt out on the pavement and leave it there. Why?
yougi bear
says...
6:21am Tue 18 Oct 11
Punctured bicycle on a hillside
says...
8:13am Tue 18 Oct 11
Bobfm , wrote:This is such a sensible and well balanced post that I can only conclude it cannot be the 'real' Bobfm - aka daniel10, Robfm etc. etc.
Robh wrote:So let me guess this right? You're saying that we have a right to drop litter because we pay council tax?
Pathetic. We pay our rates which includes street cleaning but now the council doesn't want to do it. How many more services are we going to lose? They can't carry on with increasing rates so are reducing services year on year.
.
And you say increasing rates? Hasn't Council Tax been frozen for 2 years, which means, in real terms, the Council has less money to spend due to inflation?
.
Maybe not wasting money clearing up after the feckless and selfish may help?
.
Littering is a choice, particularly in the town centre with so many bins. Many smokers seem to think it is their "human right" to stub their butt out on the pavement and leave it there. Why?
Who are you and what have you done with Robbo?
I 2 Could B
says...
8:18am Tue 18 Oct 11
It's also a shame that the courts don't seem quite so keen to deal out appropriate punishments to our more serious criminals. Why is that?
silvergran
says...
8:47am Tue 18 Oct 11
I always taught my children to put their rubbish in a bin and if they couldn't see one, to take it home and dispose of it that way.
PaulD
says...
11:27am Tue 18 Oct 11
Lets step up dog-mess prosecutions too.
Robfm
says...
12:20pm Tue 18 Oct 11
Punctured bicycle on a hillside
says...
1:11pm Tue 18 Oct 11
Robfm wrote:Exactly, that's why it can't be from you.
Punctured clearly a sensible post from Bobfm.
Unless of course you have resurrected one of your old pseudonyms in yet another attempt to deceive the general public.
You've already admitted your multi-login behavior on here is deranged but this is just going too far Robbo.
Back to the story.. totally agree with PaulD - we need more prosecutions for spitting also.
Robfm
says...
1:28pm Tue 18 Oct 11
Guess who we haven't seen for a couple of days.
Punctured bicycle on a hillside
says...
5:58pm Tue 18 Oct 11
Ah two logins and one admin login, what can one say.Well how about saying "danie10" - you deliberately set out to lie and deceive with that one and god only knows how many others.
At least you've had the good grace to admit your behaviour was deranged, well done Robbo, there's hope for you yet.
Robfm
says...
6:42pm Tue 18 Oct 11
Gooey
says...
7:51pm Tue 18 Oct 11
Punctured bicycle on a hillside
says...
9:16pm Tue 18 Oct 11
The first appearance of Daniel10;
http://goo.gl/1YIQB
..and here he is in a whimpering disposition being chastised by the web editor for lying...
http://goo.gl/lfhFo
Oh dear, poor Robbo thought he was above the law.
I 2 Could B
says...
6:55am Wed 19 Oct 11
Punctured wrote:
Back to the story.. totally agree with PaulD - we need more prosecutions for spitting also.”
I completely agree, especially as a resistant strain of TB has arrived... what a coincidence that these types of diseases, long since banished from UK shores, have returned over the last 10 years or so.
Robfm
says...
7:53am Wed 19 Oct 11
Interesting on that very same thread,
'Gooey says...
6:28pm Sun 28 Feb 10
How was bob lying when his daniel posts included his email address which showed who he was?
I can't see how he was deliberately trying to hide his identity.'
Now contrast that with Gooeys 7.51 on here. Seems Gooey wants to be in your gang now Punctured.
Punctured bicycle on a hillside
says...
7:59am Wed 19 Oct 11
Seriously though, cigarette butts pale into in insignifance when compared to inadvertantly watching someone deposit a docker's omlette on the pavement - it really should be a criminal offence.
Punctured bicycle on a hillside
says...
8:06am Wed 19 Oct 11
Robfm wrote:You lied Robbo and were caught out, bang to rights you complete twit - I don't have a gang but it's obvious that Gooey has now realised good will always win over bad, and you are bad to the bone Robbo, like a rotten apple, with bones in it.
Thank you for the link just goes to show the lengths some will go in their obsessive behaviour ah Punctured (Casual Observer, HSIN).
Interesting on that very same thread,
'Gooey says...
6:28pm Sun 28 Feb 10
How was bob lying when his daniel posts included his email address which showed who he was?
I can't see how he was deliberately trying to hide his identity.'
Now contrast that with Gooeys 7.51 on here. Seems Gooey wants to be in your gang now Punctured.
Now for goodness sake stick to the topic and stop talking about yourself for once.
Robfm
says...
8:11am Wed 19 Oct 11
As it was you who took this off thread another crass and pointless request.
Punctured bicycle on a hillside
says...
8:26am Wed 19 Oct 11
Gooey
says...
10:33am Wed 19 Oct 11
Robfm wrote:I made that post before i was aware of the First time you used your Daniel10 log in to try to steer the debate in your favour. I was asking a question as at that point i had not seen it. After seeing the way you used your Daniel10 log in, it proved what you had done. I am in nobody's gang by the way....
Thank you for the link just goes to show the lengths some will go in their obsessive behaviour ah Punctured (Casual Observer, HSIN). Interesting on that very same thread, 'Gooey says... 6:28pm Sun 28 Feb 10 How was bob lying when his daniel posts included his email address which showed who he was? I can't see how he was deliberately trying to hide his identity.' Now contrast that with Gooeys 7.51 on here. Seems Gooey wants to be in your gang now Punctured.
Robfm
says...
10:39am Wed 19 Oct 11
Gooey
says...
10:48am Wed 19 Oct 11
Robfm wrote:You quoted me and made innacurate assumptions, so i will explain myself. It's not your site and i will do as i please. You are in no position to tell anyone what to do.
Pleasae stay on thread Gooey, site moderator Punctured, who was never banned on two previous logins, chose to use a 3rd has taken over from Walter.
Robfm
says...
11:01am Wed 19 Oct 11
Anyway enough of this, carry on is your own little worlds, you know it makes sense.
Gooey
says...
11:51am Wed 19 Oct 11
Robfm wrote:Who the hell do you think you are? You will not decide who say's what and when things will end. This is not your website! You may be deluded enough to belive your own web of **** but nobody else does. Daniel10 was found out,and you lied about being a reporter for the adver. The hole you dig for yourself is becoming ever deeper.
Wasn't Gooey merely repeating Punctured. We all know what Assumptions do don't we. You assumed others assumptions were true. But you were wrong. Anyway enough of this, carry on is your own little worlds, you know it makes sense.
itsamess
says...
12:55pm Wed 26 Oct 11
You see it seems that everyone else is
the cause of threads going off the issue--further they are all liars and of course fantasists.
Here we have a classic where 4 members have all at various points very quickly found our Bob out in various claims. He first posted in this thread as Bobfm--you know the one that was hacked--shortly after my login was used whilst i was in hospital.
Mine was not hacked-it had a minor change which was hardly noticeable. I
do know the culprit.
Again our Bob then immediately went
back to Robfm on this thread. Who in their right mind would have kept a hacked login--particularly someone with GCHQ software?
Next came the Daniel10 login as again
a link was provided and another to yet
another claim where Bob claimed he was a reporter for the adver and pounced on by our Gooey after he used his famous admin login--that led to the adver very clearly stating that Bob was not a reporter for the adver and closed the thread.
Not long after that another thread-led by our bobs attacks drew an online
warning to several posters they would
be barred if it continued--result--a few
regular posters changed their logins.
Bob very stupidly gave me permission
to access his computer system-of course i delegated that to a CFA as i am very far from being a computer expert--anyone with a modicum of sense would know nothing can be hidden in a computer as the drives hold all the secrets to the information stored--and deleted. No offence was commited as permision was given--well done Bob.
robertfm
says...
7:59pm Wed 26 Oct 11
itsamess
says...
3:11pm Sun 30 Oct 11
It was another of your tricks--dont forget we have seen you use all these get outs before==another daniel moment--and you always get caught out.
John Smith II says...
10:51pm Mon 17 Oct 11
It's not even as if the town centre is short of bins to put rubbish - clearly these individuals couldn't be bothered, thought that they could get away with it and have now paid the price.