Fly-tipper faces jail over footage of him dumping tonnes of waste in Croydon lane

James Caven5 January 2017
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A fly tipper is facing jail after being caught on CCTV dumping tonnes of rubbish on a lane lined with detached £1million homes.

George Smith, 40, took cash in hand for house clearance jobs and illegally dumped more than six tonnes in just two months, a court heard.

He was caught on film driving down the alleyway Campden Road in Croydon, south London, in a truck which was traced back to him and seized by council officials.

Smith, who was jailed in 2009 for fly tipping, denied carrying out four fly tips in South Croydon and Thornton Heath between February 12 and April 11 last year.

He claimed an imposter had copied his number plates and stuck them on different vehicles, known as “doubling up”, before dumping the rubbish.

CCTV footage showed the tipper van dumping waste in the quiet lane

Smith, who represented himself, said: “It’s been a double up. That means they used my plates – that is not my vehicle.”

Simon Kiely, prosecuting, asked who the driver – who had dark hair and a distinctive hairline similar to Smith – could have been, but the defendant said he had no idea.

District Judge Karen Hammond said: “I am quite satisfied and I am quite sure that you are not telling me the truth. I reject your suggestion that they were different vehicles.

“They are not the best quality but the photograph makes it abundantly plain it has the same logo. There are simply too many coincidences.”

Smith, of Crowley Crescent in Waddon, south London, was convicted of four charges of fly tipping at Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court yesterday and will be sentenced later this month.

Judge Hammond warned him: “You have been to prison for these offences before, so you know perfectly well, having been convicted, that I am now considering a prison sentence.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in