Hereford delivery driver fled the country after Hereford fly-tip

Alexandru Croitoru, 26, was fined for illegally disposing of waste for a second time in Hunderton Lane in Hereford.

Croitoru, of Grandstand Road, Hereford, failed to appear for his first court hearing at Hereford magistrates court in January 2021, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

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Herefordshire Council said he then "fled" the country and, two years later, surrendered himself at Hereford police station after he arrived back.

The court heard that in May 2019, Croitoru had thrown 10 large parcel bags full of domestic waste over a bridge in Hunderton Lane, Hereford, which had landed in a farmer’s field.

Household rubbish was found in the bags dumped in Hunderton Lane (Image: Herefordshire Council)

Paperwork found in the mass of rubbish led officers of Herefordshire Council’s Community Protection team to Croitoru, who failed to assist with the investigation.

On returning to the UK after some time abroad, Croitoru told the court that he had made an error and he did not know how else to dispose of the waste.

Croitoru pleaded guilty to two charges of depositing controlled waste without a licence and for failing to secure the transfer of waste to an authorised person.

He was given a 12-month community order, ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and pay fines and costs of £1,090.

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Marc Willimont, the council’s head of public protection, said: “This is a clear case of an individual simply dumping rubbish rather than waiting for the next refuse collection or taking it to the nearest household waste site.

"He did not cooperate with our enquiries, left the country and only on his return did he surrender himself to the police.

“Fly-tipping costs council taxpayers tens of thousands of pounds each year and anyone found will always be prosecuted - this case is an example of what happens when the council traces the waste back.”

The maximum penalty for fly-tipping is a £50,000 fine and/or 5 years imprisonment.

All householders have a duty of care to ensure that the waste they produce is disposed of correctly and they have documentation to show who they have transferred the waste to and keep those records for at least two years.