Human waste among rubbish dumped at music school

A man who dumped faeces and other hazardous waste on school grounds has been fined and given a suspended prison sentence.

At St Albans Magistrates Court, James Blewitt, 35, admitted dumping the waste at Musicale, a teaching centre for young musicians at St George's School in Harpenden, Hertfordshire.

His firm, Atlas Waste, of Basildon, Essex, had been hired to remove waste from the school, but later returned and left it on the school grounds in protest at not being paid for the job.

Magistrates sentenced him to 16 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, and he must pay a total of £3,417.

That figure includes a contribution towards St Albans City and District Council's costs and £984 compensation to Musicale.

The court heard that the dumped waste included razor blades, sanitary items, boxes, doors, a toilet, plastic, wood and construction materials.

When interviewed by council officers under caution, Blewitt accepted that Musicale was unaware of the payment dispute as the work had been organised by a broker.

He also agreed that the waste he dumped on the school land was different from that which had been collected from the site.

Edgar Hill, a Liberal Democrat member of the council and its lead for recycling and waste, described the case as "the most outrageous fly-tips our enforcement team has had to deal with".

He added: "It is appalling that this foul material was dumped in the grounds of a busy Harpenden school, exposing young people to potential harm.

"The court clearly agreed with our decision to prosecute the offender instead of issuing a fine and I am pleased that a suspended prison sentence was imposed."

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