Man accused of dumping 27 tonnes of waste in country lane appears in court
Darren Sheen, 39, offered no indication of plea to a raft of charges faced by him and a business, Fusion Engineering Ltd, at Cannock Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.
The charges relate to a huge mound of fly-tipped waste that appeared on the night of January 19 in Watery Lane on the outskirts of Lichfield in Staffordshire.
Sheen, who wore a blue shirt and tie for the 10-minute hearing, of Grange Road in Uttoxeter, is accused of causing danger to road users, submitting controlled waste likely to cause pollution or harm to human health, driving a motor vehicle dangerously, failing without reasonable excuse to record data on a driver's card, wilful obstruction of a highway, failure to take measures when managing extractive waste to prevent contraventions and the escape of waste, handling, controlling or transferring controlled waste without taking reasonable measures and depositing rubbish within 15 feet of the centre of a highway.
The business, of which Sheen appears to be listed as a director on Companies House, faces charges of submitting controlled waste likely to cause pollution or harm to human health, failing to take measures when managing extractive waste to prevent contraventions and the escape of waste, handling, controlling or transferring controlled waste without taking reasonable measures, wilful obstruction of a highway and depositing dung, compost or rubbish on a made-up carriageway.
Lichfield District Council began an investigation after the waste, which measured over 20 metres long and two metres high, was dumped and contractors used a mechanical digger to clear the road and restore access to the two-lane route the next morning.
Prosecutor Mark Jackson told the court it was their case that Sheen got into a Volvo HGV which had a trailer of untreated waste attached at the company's unit in Pasturefields Enterprise Park in Great Haywood and drove 23km to Watery Lane where he allegedly reversed the vehicle and dumped the waste.
He said Sheen accepted in interview that he had driven the vehicle and had gone to the area, but that he had gone out that night to 'test the brakes' of the HGV.
Mr Jackson requested that the case was serious enough to be sent to Stafford Crown Court, which was agreed by the panel of magistrates, with Sheen now due to face a further hearing on August 4.
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