Council defends itself on judge's stinging crown court attack

Jun 20 2009 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

THIS is little Lila Henderson who enjoyed a sweet but then landed her aunt in court.

Yesterday a judge slammed the decision by Kirklees Council to charge Larissa Wilkinson, of Mirfield, with dropping controlled waste on Trinity Street.

Judge Roger Scott was told it was 18-month-old Lila who had dropped the sweet wrapper out of a car window.

He said: “It’s the most inappropriate set of proceedings I’ve personally ever, ever seen and it’s a fantastic waste of community charge payers’ money.”

But a spokesman for Kirklees Council has since defended the ludicrous charge.

The spokesman said: “Local authorities have to decide which piece of legislation is the most appropriate to use.

“By virtue of Section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 it is an offence for someone to deposit litter.

By virtue of S33 of the same Act it is an offence to deposit ‘controlled waste’.