We Don't Get Any Details, But I'll Guarantee He's/She’s White And Middle Class

A reader writes to the 'Guardian':

I was outside London Waterloo railway station and was looking for a bin to dispose of an empty coffee cup. The only bin I could see was completely full, but there was a plastic bag containing rubbish at the base. I put my cup in that bag and was stopped by an enforcement officer, who had been standing at a distance watching the bin. He told me I had violated the law and refused my offer to remove my cup.

After printing out a penalty notice, he remained in the same spot watching the overflowing bin. It seemed like a set-up. I discovered I had been fined £500, payable within 28 days and reduced to £325 if paid within 14 days. There is no right of appeal, and failure to pay could result in prosecution and a £2,500 penalty. Can you advise me?

The chances of him (or her, the article doesn’t make it clear) being anything else are so infinitesimal as to be invisible to the naked eye. 

And the 'Guardian' duly looks into the case:

I asked Lambeth council why people who were evidently unaware they were committing an offence were not given warnings instead of fines. It said that to be “consistent and fair,” it fined everyone, and it justified imposing the highest allowable penalty as a deterrent. The south London council reportedly issued the second-highest number of fines for littering over a 12-month period. It outsources its enforcement to the parking company APCOA but says the company does not keep any of the revenue raised or receive incentives to issue tickets. It refused to cancel your fine. If you challenge it in court, you lose the early payment discount. So my advice to you is to pay up through gritted teeth and stick to official bins in future.

Of course that’s the advice. But what a lot of words to say ‘just pay up sucker, it’s an unfair world but we should just accept it because ‘fairness’ is a white supremacist concept!’ 

Consequences For The Little People

The taxi driver who dropped Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana off at a children's dance class has been stripped of his licence...'The council found he did not meet the appropriate standards.'

What are the ‘appropriate standards’ for Taxi drivers encountering murdererous savages? Do they have any? Isn't it just up to normal human morality?

Chris Walker, director of serious injury at law firm Bond Turner, has now said the three bereaved families he represented 'welcome the decision' to revoke Mr Poland's licence 'as a necessary step towards securing individual accountability for those whose actions fell below the standards the public should expect'.

Well, I suppose when you can’t get to the police or social services, you have to settle for the people who are only tangentially responsible. Don’t get me wrong, Mr. Poland, is a craven coward. He should hand back his Man Card immediately, never mind his Taxi license.

The inquiry had heard that Mr Poland, who worked for One Call Taxis, picked up Rudakubana from his home, in Banks, a village around five miles from the seaside town, at 11.31am.

Mr Poland, who has been a cab driver for 27 years, said Rudakubana barely spoke during the 14–minute journey but that gave him no cause for concern. However, when the taxi pulled up outside the dance studio, Rudakubana got out without paying.Mr Poland said he remonstrated with him and threatened to call the police, but Rudakubana simply walked away and up the stairs into the studio.

Even if he had called the police, they would have arrived too late to do anything 

Mr Poland said: 'I was waiting for my money. I thought I would give him a minute or two, which I did, then I heard all the screams.' He claimed that he went into 'panic mode' after hearing what he thought was gun shots and drove off.Despite this, Mr Poland admitted he did not stop or call police, but instead called his best friend, Julian Medlock, who worked in the garage and spray shop next to the dance studio, because he was worried for his safety.

He’s obviously been advised to plead victim status in order to deflect any criticism. 

Mr Poland said he had suffered psychological problems since the attack and no longer picked up fares he didn't know. 'I can't sleep at night,' he said. 'I shut my eyes and I see his face, it's there all the time in my head.'

Mr Poland claimed at the inquiry he accepted his next job, which came through to him via an App on his mobile phone soon afterwards, 'by accident'. 'I took the job, I don't know why,' he said. 'My head wasn't there, I didn't really know what I was doing.'

If it’s true that he’s taken money from a GoFundMe set up for him, then I have no sympathy whatsoever. But I recognise that the people most at fault here will not suffer any punishment whatsoever. And they bear far, far more responibility that this patheric excuse for a man...

Low Hanging Fruit Again...

A woman says she was "shocked" when she was fined £150 for tipping the remnants of her coffee down a road gully in west London. Burcu Yesilyurt, who lives in Kew, said she thought she was acting "responsibly" when she poured out a small amount of coffee from her reusable cup down the drain rather than risk spilling it on the bus she was about to catch to work. But to her surprise, she was then stopped by three enforcement officers at the bus stop near Richmond station and fined under Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, external. Richmond-upon-Thames Council said its officers "acted professionally and objectively" and that the fine was issued in line with its policies.

Of course they said that! They were hardly going to say ‘Ooops, we got it wrong!’ were they? 

Ms Yesilyurt said she had asked the enforcements officers if there were any signs or information warning people of the law but received no response.

Hardly surprising! 

Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 makes it an offence to deposit or dispose of waste in a way likely to pollute land or water, including pouring liquids into street drains.

And is coffee considered a pollutant, or would any reasonable person feel that this act referred more to other liquids? Coffee is poured down the drain every day, albeit it’s probably phased through a deliveryman’s or taxi driver’s kidneys first…

The Richmond Council spokesperson said: "Nobody likes receiving a fine, and we always aim to apply our policies fairly and with understanding. "We are committed to protecting Richmond's waterways and keeping our borough's streets clean and safe 

"Enforcement action is only taken when necessary, and residents who feel a fine has been issued incorrectly can request a review."

But now you've backed down and cancelled the fine, so clearly, either you were wrong to issue it, or it's the weight of public ridicule and oprobium thats forced you to back down.

The council spokesperson said: "Fixed Penalty Notices clearly outline that there is an appeal process available to anyone who wishes to challenge them 

"It is likely that, had this case progressed through that route, the notice would have been rescinded because it is a minor contravention which the recipient agreed not to repeat."

Ah. Wrong then. Figures.