A Welsh council took an innocent woman to court after a neighbour dumped recyclable waste in her black wheelie bin. Retired secretary Catherine Maddy of Western Terrace in Ebbw Vale said if it wasn’t for her commitment to clearing her name she would likely have been found guilty of not properly recycling by Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council and lumbered with a fine and court costs.
At Cwmbran Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, June 22, Hayley Hawkins, appearing on behalf of the council, told the court how the local authority decided to take Ms Maddy to court after accusing her of breaching Section 46 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 for failing to properly dispose of her recyclable waste. But Ms Hawkins told magistrates that the council had decided to drop the case after seeing evidence from Ms Maddy which showed other people were dumping recyclable waste including drinks bottles and cans in her black bin. “After reviewing the evidence it is clear a neighbour was using her bin to put waste in,” Ms Hawkins said.
Ms Maddy's evidence consisted of pictures including of children's toys, children's medicine and nappies in her black bin which showed she probably wasn't the person using the bin incorrectly. Outside court Ms Maddy, supported by her partner Anthony Hale, told WalesOnline that the ten-month-long battle with the council has caused her stress and financial loss. She said she wishes the council had dropped the case much sooner after seeing the images.
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By 2024-2025 the Welsh Government expects every local authority to hit a 70% recycling rate. For every tonne under the target, councils will be hit with £200 fines. It means local authorities are ramping up efforts to prosecute anyone deemed to be failing to dispose of their waste properly.
“It was September 12 when I first got a letter from the council’s enforcement team saying I was in breach of recycling regulations,” Ms Maddy, 57, recalled of a “mortifying experience”. “I asked the officer to give me a ring and he told me he’d found Fruit Shoots and Dr Pepper cans in my wheelie bin. I told him I’m a retired woman living on my own and I don’t have anything like that. It couldn’t possibly have been my waste.
“Then the following month on October 3 and October 4 I got further letters saying I was in breach again. The enforcement officer said if it’s not my waste in the wheelie bin then someone is obviously dumping recyclable waste in my bin.
“I then made sure the bin wasn’t accessible to anyone other than me other than when I put it out for collection. But then it happened again. I wrote to the council and said ‘I don’t know what more you want me to do about this’. But they issued me a fine for £100. I told them there is no way I’m paying it because I haven’t done anything wrong.”
After sending Ms Maddy a final warning in January the council confirmed it was taking her to court. But Ms Maddy said despite the relatively small fine she was committed to continuing to fight the allegation rather than ending the dispute by paying.
Filing through her mass of documents she’d assembled ahead of the case in order to clear her name, she said the case has caused her a lot of worry. “Of course it has. I don’t want to be convicted in court of something I’m not guilty of and have that stain on my character, my reputation and my honesty. I wonder how many people who accept these fines are genuinely guilty.”
Anthony said: “I get angry when I think of all the worry she’s had and the money she’s had to spend to fight all this. I’m still annoyed. We’ve had to have the photo evidence printed, all the documents printed. I get nasty when I talk about it because I know all the work she’s had to put in and I know how good she is at recycling.”
Ms Maddy thanked her community for their support after her case became known in the area after she posted about it on social media. “People have been very supportive, and surprised it ended up in court,” she added. “I’d prepared myself for a guilty verdict today because people told me you can’t take on the council. But I have and I’ve won.”
