Times are desperate in the UK. Thieves are stealing bin bags in order to find something of value inside, and local councils are robbing residents to attempt to cover their mounting debt. In the end, it's the little man who pays, as this family found out after being fined for garbage bags stolen from their home.
Videos by Wide Open Country
In the UK, fly-tipping, or the illegal dumping of garbage is a crime, and perpetrators are fined. However, as a professional flytipper myself, I know that if you want to get away with it, do it far from your home, and with no personally identifiable documents inside.
But, in this case, the bag that was found, only 30 feet from their door contained enough evidence to incriminate the family it came from. However, they had not intentionally left the garbage in an incorrect spot and didn't deserve to be fined.
Thieves had found the piles of garbage left outside the front of the house during a cleanout, and taken one. They had then proceeded to rip it open, looking for something valuable. Once they had taken their pickings, they left it out. This single bag of abandoned garbage was enough for the family to be fined a whopping $1,500.
Council To Keen To Hand Out Fine For Garbage
In typical ratty UK council behavior, they posted a shaming picture on their Facebook page before sending an officer around. The officer, without asking the cause or explanation for the garbage, slapped the young family with a huge fine. Rather than investigating, they went straight for the wallet.
There is an appeal process that the family can go through. They should be able to appeal being fined for garbage issues that they didn't cause. The mother, Abigail says "We haven't paid the fines and I'm trying to ask the council to cancel them because it is just not fair. We haven't done anything wrong." She worries. "We might have to pay up though because if we lost any court case we'd face a criminal conviction or up to a $64980.50 (£50,000) fine. We can't risk doing that, we don't want a criminal conviction."
The fear tactics and threat of a larger fine have worried the young family. They are debating whether they will even be able to afford Christmas with their young child. As usual, a UK council has attacked their community for financial gain.
