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Time to play devils advocate here. Obviously from the article we're seeing the side of the story mainly from the person accused of littering and also the newspaper reporter themselves. However, let's take a good look at the story:
Mail Online said:
Larissa Wilkinson, 19, appeared at Crown Court accused of 'depositing controlled waste' after her misdemeanour was reported by a passer-by last March.
So the original offence was actually reported by a passer by? Good, I hope more people will report idiots who throw rubbish out of their car windows and that more councils will pursue them. And did this passer by actually see a baby do this or did they just see litter being dropped from the car?
Mail Online said:
She was driving her Fiat Punto in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, when her niece, Lyla Henderson, picked up the wrapper from her car seat and dropped it from the window
Any witnesses to prove that it was actually a baby in the car at the time the litter was thrown?
Right, so an 18 month old niece was able to pick up some rubbish on a car seat and drop it out of an open window? Assuming that she was strapped into a car baby seat they tend to be quiet high up and it would be hard reach down to the real car seat below. Likewise, she was able to 'drop it from the window' - is it wise to have a window open so far down that an 18 month toddler strapped into a baby seat can reach out and drop the rubbish from it? Or if the window isn't open that far down she must have long arms. Or maybe it wasn't actually a baby who dropped the litter out of the window... :chin:
Mail Online said:
Miss Wilkinson's number plate was immediately taken down and handed to Kirklees Council who later issued her with a fixed penalty notice for £75.
Good. Perhaps if more people did the same then our country would be a nicer place. The council followed standard procedures and issued a fixed penalty notice.
Mail Online said:
Despite being unable to pay - she receives just £30 a week as a student at Dewsbury Art College -
Yet she can afford to run the car and just take her niece for a drive? She can also afford to plaster herself in makeup? And if the car and its costs were paid by someone else why didn't she ask them to pay for the fixed penalty fine as well seeing as she can't afford to be financially responsible for herself?
Mail Online said:
the council spent thousands pursuing her relentlessly, and issued a further nine warning letters.
NINE warning letters? Did Miss. Wilkinson not contact the council to try and sort the matter out after the first couple of letters? This sounds more like Miss. Wilkinson ignored the letters and just hoped it would go away...
Mail Online said:
Finally, in February this year, they sent her a court summons charging her with dropping litter from a vehicle and demanded she appear before magistrates in Huddersfield.
Sounds like standard procedure. The defendant has obviously ignored all chances of sorting the matter out and leaves the council with no choice but to take it to the MAGISTRATES court.
Mail Online said:
The case was adjourned and after two further appearances she chose to be tried by a jury at Crown Court, as is her right under British law.
Why? Littering is a criminal offence and is therefore normally covered in the criminal court i.e. the Magistrates court. So she just happened to 'choose' to be tried at a Crown Court, at great expense to the taxpayer? And how does a 19 year old Art student know to have it tried elsewhere? This sounds more like she had legal representation by a solicitor who was looking for loopholes, or at the very least legal advice from somewhere. Funny, she's only on £30 a week so how can she afford this?
Mail Online said:
Had the case reached a jury it would have cost taxpayers an astonishing £10,000. Legal experts have estimated that the farce had stung the public purse for a total of £5,000.
Exactly why it should have been tried in a Magistrates court as the council originally intended. Would have been much cheaper for the taxpayer.
Mail Online said:
During his tirade Judge Scott asked the prosecutor representing Kirklees Council: 'Can you explain to me why this charge was ever brought against this lady - she has dropped a single sweet wrapper?
'She' has dropped the sweet wrapper? I thought the baby did? And this is the first mention of a 'single sweet wrapper'.
Mail Online said:
'Is it controlled waste? I've looked it up and I don't see how you could possibly argue that it was controlled waste.
'I cannot for the life of me see it's appropriate.
Dropping waste on the streets is inappropriate as well as an offence.
Mail Online 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.
Again, exactly why it should never have got to a Crown court and should've been tried in a Magistrates court.
Mail Online said:
'This was a grotesque misuse of the powers of the authorities to proceed on indictment for dropping a sweet wrapper.'
I disagree. I'd like to see more people hauled before the courts for littering the streets.
Mail Online said:
After accepting a caution Judge Scott told Miss Wilkinson: 'I hope you've enjoyed your day in court.'
So after all that she WAS still cautioned over an
offence committed?
Mail Online said:
Miss Wilkinson, of Mirfield, West Yorkshire, said she was taking her niece out for a drive when she was alleged to have thrown the sweet wrapper from her car window.
'I had only just passed my test so we were enjoying a drive out together. I put Lyla's car seat in the passenger side and fastened her in.
Newly qualified 19 year old driver taking an 18 month old toddler for a drive? Is that wise?
Mail Online said:
'But as we were driving she must have put her hand down into the side compartment where my friend had left some sweet wrappers from a bag of mints.
Hang on, earlier on in the article it was alleged that she got the wrapper from the SEAT? If we're talking side compartments as per door pockets, the compartments are normally quite low down. How on earth can a toddler reach down that far down from a baby seat????
Mail Online said:
'She must have leant over and picked one up before throwing it out of the window.
Again, the window was down low enough for a toddler to be able to throw a wrapper out of it?
Mail Online said:
I had no idea she had done anything until I received a letter from the council telling me to pay a fine.
Which by the sounds of it, you totally ignored.
Mail Online said:
'I just couldn't afford it. They sent nine more letters - ten altogether - and each one increased the fine, before I was eventually sent a court summons to appear before magistrates.'
Yet as mentioned, you can get the money to run the car as well as plaster makeup all over yourself. And why didn't you try and deal with the matter before it got to 10 letters and a court summons?
Mail Online said:
She added: 'Taking me to court was pathetic and a complete waste of taxpayers money - money that could have been better spent elsewhere instead of chasing someone over a sweet wrapper.
Not dealing with the matter before it got that far is also pathetic. And irresponsible.
Mail Online said:
Outside court her mother Bridgett, 44, said: 'Like the judge said, this has cost the taxpayer a lot of money.'
Yes, because the defendant chose to go to a Crown Court instead of having it dealt with locally. Nice one.
Mail Online said:
A spokesman for Kirklees Council defended its extraordinary actions.
He said: 'The judge at Bradford Crown Court felt that it couldn't be classed as controlled waste and his view has been noted.
'However, there can be no doubt that rubbish thrown from vehicles contributes greatly to the defacement of our streets and is a problem local authorities need to address.
'Miss Wilkinson was charged with an offence because by virtue of Section 33 (5) the person in control of a vehicle is liable for waste thrown from that vehicle, whether they threw the waste out or not.
Quite right. A law was broken.
Mail Online said:
'It was always the intention of the local authority that this matter would be dealt with in the Magistrates' Court.
'However, Miss Wilkinson herself chose to have the matter heard in the Crown Court.
Exactly. And who advised Miss Wilkinson to take it to a Crown Court? Obviously not the same person that told her to ignore the 9 warning letters...
There's too many discrepancies in Miss Wilkinson's story from what I can see. We have a baby strapped into a baby seat who can reach down far enough into a door pocket and pick up sweet wrappers, and a window open down low enough that the same baby can reach out and throw it out of the car. Is it wise to have a window that low down that a baby can do that? Or was there actually a baby in the passenger seat at all considering no-one other than Miss Wilkinson claims this? Maybe there was a friend of Miss. Wilkinson in the seat and the whole 'baby' scenario is a work of fiction to avoid blame...
Then we have Miss Wilkinson obviously ignoring the 9 warning letters. If she was innocent then why didn't she contact the council and explain the situation? And who exactly did give her legal advice, which must have been a bit pricey for a 19 year old student on £30 a week (yet she gets enough money from somewhere to run and own a car)?
And to top it all it gets plastered all over the papers, obviously someone is pushing/ selling the story.
With so many complaints about young people not taking responsibility for their actions this just about sums it up. I agree that the case shouldn't have gone to the Crown Court at the tax payers expense but I believe Miss Wilkinson should have been tried in a Magistrates court as originally intended. And I also believe she should have taken far more responsibility for herself by dealing with the matter long before it escalated to court action rather than being immature and ignoring it. And I don't believe her story at all...