City trader dumps himself in a whole lot of bother

A Brighton businessman has been ordered to pay almost £4,000 after pleading guilty to dumping tons of illegal rubbish in the city including fridges, sofas, beer barrels, tyres and builder's rubble.

Daniel Brennan, of 17 St Cuthmans Close, Brighton, traded as Sussex House and Rubbish Clearance and collected bulky items from households, pubs and building sites. However, instead of disposing of the waste properly, environment enforcement officers discovered he had ditched many of the items on Whitehawk Road and nearby Wilson Avenue.

Brennan, who has now changed the name of his company and is trading under Sussex Clearances, defended himself but pleaded guilty claiming his business partner had disposed of the 5.7 tons of rubbish without his knowledge after they had a fall out.

Brennan, who has also lived at 23 Plaistow Close, Whitehawk, admitted to six offences of flytipping under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and was ordered to pay a total of £3,943.52 - £188 fine on each of the six offence totalling £1,128, council’s costs of £2,645.52 and a surcharge of £170. He was given 14 days to pay.

Brennan, 30, had previously failed to attend court to face the charges, but handed himself into Hollingbury custody centre and faced magistrates the same day.

Cllr Gill Mitchell, chair of the environment, transport & sustainability committee, said: “This prosecution sends out a clear message to people who carry out flytipping in our city – you will be found, you will be caught and you will be prosecuted.

“What’s most upsetting about this case is Mr Brennan had set himself up as a business to collect people’s unwanted rubbish and charge them to dispose of it, as they thought, legally. Instead, he chose to dump it on public land.

“Fly-tipping is not only illegal, it is irresponsible and can spread disease, encourage vermin and release toxic chemicals into the environment. It also means hazardous objects and chemicals are lying around where young children could be harmed.”

To report flytipping please use our online flytipping report form.