Repeat fly-tipper fined for rubbish left in street

Umit Bilgin piled binbags on the corner of Duke Street in Northampton

A man has been fined after he dumped bulging bin bags on a street corner the day before he was due in court for a previous fly-tipping offence.

Umit Bilgin, 45, left the rubbish on Duke Street, Northampton, on 5 June 2023, and was convicted of failing in his duty of care to ensure his household waste was disposed of properly at Northampton Magistrates' Court on 12 May.

He was convicted of the same offence at the court on 6 June 2023, after he dumped waste in February 2022 in Spectacle Lane, Moulton.

In May, Bilgin, of Patterdale Walk, Northampton, was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £3,500 and an £800 victim surcharge.

In June 2023 he was ordered to pay £3,350 in fines and costs, the council added.

The authority claimed Bilgin had refused to engage with the investigation process over the Duke Street case, which caused the almost two-year gap between prosecutions.

Bilgin was issued with an arrest warrant after failing to appear at the first court date for the Duke Street incident in January last year, and again the following May.

He pleaded not guilty when he appeared at court on 3 March, leading to a trial in May.

Nigel Stansfield, the cabinet member for environment, recycling and waste at the authority, said fly-tipping was a top priority and it would be "stepping up" efforts to tackle environmental crimes and hold offenders to account.