Personal trainer, 43, left ‘fuming’ after council fine him £600 for ‘fly-tipping’ envelope ‘littered by homeless people who rummaged through waste bins’

A personal trainer is left angry after Jobworth Labor council fined him £600 for ‘flying over’ an envelope outside his home which he claimed was ‘stuffed by homeless people rummaging through bins’.

Robb McGeary, 43, thought he was doing the responsible thing when he threw an envelope into the bin outside his apartment complex in Ealing, west London.

But the father was shocked when he received a letter from the municipality after the alleged incident on January 5 stating that an investigation had been launched for fly tipping.

When council workers were dispatched to clean up the bins after they had been rummaged through and their contents strewn on the road, they found the envelope addressed to Mr McGeary on the street near his flat.

The personal trainer told the Daily Mail the area was a well-known fly tipping ‘hotspot’. He said homeless people and drug addicts go into communal dumpsters at night and look for scraps.

Piles of old mattresses and furniture, drug paraphernalia and garbage bags had been dumped weeks ago The father claims the bins were ’emptied across the street’.

Mr McGeary, who lives in Ealing, west London, with his partner, his six-year-old autistic daughter and five-month-old twin daughters, said:The waste had been left there for ‘more than a week’ before the council sent a clean-up team.

HE He believes Binmen should have found the envelope among the debris then before he was fined.

The personal trainer said the area was a well-known fly-infested ‘hotspot’ where homeless people and drug addicts often rummaged through bins at night.

The father said he witnessed ‘out-of-mind homeless people taking drugs, climbing into bins and actively tearing down bin bags’ in the middle of the night when he lived on Witham Road.

He told the Daily Mail: ‘The entire case against me boils down to a single item with my name and address written on it in a bin bag in the communal bins of my flat. There is no CCTV. There are no witnesses. They sent me a fixed penalty notice of £600.

‘I live in an HMO [house in multiple occupation] building with open-air, unlocked communal garbage bins that constantly overflow.

‘At the beginning of the year the rubbish was not cleared for over a month, luckily I documented this and this became my counter evidence.

‘This is a well-known place for homeless people, drug users and dealers; a place where people rummage through garbage or dump extra waste nearby. Right next to the bins is a huge fly tipping point, which is on the council’s own name and shame page.

‘I did exactly what you were supposed to do, put my rubbish in the correct bins. Not on the ground or on the street. What happens next is completely out of my control.

‘One night all the bins were emptied across the street, I have many photos. This wasn’t cleared for over a week and I took another photo the day before the area was cleared.

‘The next morning at 7 o’clock they opened a bag and found my address.’ [on the envelope] – happened to be at this exact spot [location] ‘They tore the bag and classified it as evidence of fly-tipping, contrary to section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.’

The area was littered with old mattresses and furniture, drug paraphernalia and piles of waste for weeks before bins were ’emptied across the street’.

Mr McGeary, who has been a personal trainer for 17 years, lives in West Ealing with his partner, his six-year-old autistic daughter and five-month-old twin daughters.

Mr McGeary was later fined £400, which he appealed by using the photographs as evidence that he was not responsible for the incident.

But the local authority rejected his request, increased the fine to £600 and now threatened to take him to court.

Mr McGeary said it was “frustrating” that Ealing council treated him like “guilty until proven innocent” despite him doing “exactly what you’re supposed to do”.

The personal trainer refused to pay the fine and accused Ealing council of a ‘total lack of common sense’.

He said: ‘It’s worrying how easily this can happen to anyone. I won’t pay and I’m fully prepared to face them [the council] I feel like I have more counter-evidence in court than they do.

‘It really feels like ‘guilty until proven innocent’. Just because something with my name on it falls into a bag, I am treated as if I had thrown it out on the street.

‘What’s worse is the complete absence of common sense. Anyone could have taken this item from the trash, carried it, or put it in another bag. There was no attempt to take this into account, it just went straight to awarding a penalty and holding a hearing.

‘This makes me feel like I’m being lumped in with people who commit crimes on the street. I’m being punished because of them [the council’s] not doing what they are supposed to do. It’s like they said, “Let’s get money by sending fines to people.”

Picture: Dozens of black rubbish bags were dumped in bins outside Mr McGeary’s apartment complex.

Picture: A copy of the letter he wrote on January 5 warning him that he was being investigated for fly tipping

‘It’s stressful, frustrating and frankly a little worrying how easily this can happen to anyone. If all you have to do is have your name on a piece of trash, everyone who uses communal bins is at risk.

‘My partner is his daughter’s full-time carer. I am the only one working and have had to work less to take care of him and our twins. I have no money [to pay the fine] and I shouldn’t have to do this anyway.’

The letter from Ealing council, dated January 5 and seen by the Daily Mail, says the local authority is investigating a ‘suspected waste offence’ and that ‘evidence including your name and address was found among the waste’.

The council officer said: ‘In order to assist my investigation, I would like to give you an opportunity to respond to these allegations and provide your account before any decision on enforcement action is made.

‘This is your opportunity to talk about matters you may want to rely on in court if London Borough of Ealing decides to take legal action.’

The fixed penalty notice, later issued on 21 January, stated: ‘Evidence has been obtained from your name and address that you have committed the offense of low flying rollover contrary to S33 of the Environmental Protection Act. [Act].’

An Ealing council spokesman said: ‘We issue fixed penalty notices either because we witness crime or because our investigations lead us to the conclusion that a person has committed an offence.

‘Before a fixed penalty notice is issued we will ask the alleged fly tipper if they can explain why their waste was found fly tipped.

‘Fly tipping is a significant problem for residents and we are tackling this criminal activity.

‘Fly tipping is a drain on council funds that could be better spent on essential services for residents. It has a direct impact on the environment and the quality of life of our residents.

‘We’ve launched an awareness campaign called “This is our home, not tipping”, explaining to our communities what fly tipping is, its impact and how everyone can help by disposing of waste correctly.’