Waste-handler in court over cemetery fly-tipping

Waste was dumped at Scholemoor Cemetery last September

"Major errors" by a licensed waste-handler led to a huge pile of rubbish being dumped in a Bradford cemetery, a court has heard.

Imran Khan, 38, appeared at Bradford Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, where he admitted responsibility for fly-tipping at Scholemoor Cemetery last September.

Khan, of Hartman Place, also admitted to another act of fly-tipping on Munby Street some six weeks earlier.

He is due to be sentenced on 21 August at Bradford Crown Court.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Khan denied being the person who dumped the waste, claiming he had lent his vehicle to a colleague who fly-tipped the rubbish without his knowledge.

Waseem Raja, prosecuting on behalf of Bradford Council, told the court Environmental Enforcement officers had been called to a report of fly-tipping on 6 August.

CCTV showed a Ford transit dumping a "substantial amount" of waste, including general litter, building materials and garden waste, on Munby Street, off Thornton Road, at 06:28 BST.

Mr Raja said waste had subsequently been dumped at Scholemoor Cemetery on 16 September, with the same vehicle was found to have been involved.

The enforcement team searched through the waste and found the address of a woman, who they went on to interview.

Mr Raja said: "She informed officers that she had paid Imran Khan to dispose of the waste."

She said Khan had shown her documentation to prove he was a licensed waste-carrier.

"It just so happens the vehicle was later involved in an unrelated road traffic stop, on 4 November," Mr Raja explained.

"Police carried out checks, and the keeper was found to be Khan."

'Disrespectful act'

The defendant argued that, although he had received payment to remove the waste and the vehicle was his, he did not dump the rubbish.

"We can't disprove that, but the council argues that he failed to take measures to ensure the correct transfer of waste," said Mr Raja.

He added: "Allowing someone else to deposit the waste in the cemetery is, in my submission, just as bad as if he did it himself."

The prosecutor said Khan had "flagrantly disregarded the law", calling the dumping of waste in a cemetery a "disrespectful act".

Mr Arshad, defending Khan, said he had been operating as a legitimate waste-carrier, with the relevant licence in place.

"The reality is there were major errors by him relating to how he conducted aspects of his business," he said.

"Through his guilty pleas, he acknowledges his wrongdoing.

"He has expressed great remorse for what he has allowed to happen through his own actions and inactions."

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