BREAKING NEWS BOSS accused of fly-tipping 27 TONNES of untreated waste on country lane - cutting off access to village
Darren Sheen, 40, and his company Fusion Engineering did not enter pleas to a total of 13 charges brought by the local authority, Lichfield District Council.
They council were left with the task of clearing up the huge dump which measured two metres (8ft) high and more than 20 metres (65ft) long.
Its appearance overnight on Watery Lane effectively cut off the village of Curborough in Staffordshire which was already inaccessible from the other direction due to roadworks.
Prosecutor Mark Jackson told Cannock Magistrates Court: 't blocked emergency vehicles and caused huge disruption to local businesses.'
Among the many charges laid against him was the 'failure to record any data on recording equipment or on a driver card'.
Sheen, wearing a crumpled blue shirt and tie, spoke only to give his name, address and date of birth during the 15 minute hearing.
His lawyer Rebecca Stanton indicated that no pleas would be given.
The clear up took Lichfield District Council 38 hours to complete at a cost of over £10,000.
Their Environmental Health officers immediately began an investigation which ended up seizing a lorry believed to have been used in the incident on March 21.
Mr Jackson said that the matter was serious enough to be heard in the Crown Court.
Cannock Magistrates ordered that Sheen next appear before Stafford Crown Court for a plea hearing on August 4.
While the community could also usually be accessed from the other end of Watery Lane, residents said at the time that a section of the road had been closed for a number of weeks for roadworks connected with the construction of a new housing estate.
The dump meant residents were unable to leave the hamlet by vehicle.
The compacted rubbish included building rubble, fencing, vast amounts of plastic as well as shoes, a hairdryer and at least two England flags.
It spanned virtually the entire width of Watery Lane, leaving room only to edge past the mess on foot.
Watery Lane runs to around a dozen homes in Curborough.
Among the villagers left stranded at the time was farmer's wife Caroline Lees.
She told MailOnline back in January: 'My husband is a chemotherapy patient and the thought of being trapped here and not being able to call the emergency services is very frightening.'
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The chairman said he was determined that the hearings would 'not turn into an exercise of papering over the cracks' but would act as a 'real engine for change.' He also said that the present Crime and Policing Bill, which has passed its second reading in the House of Commons, includes the provision of Youth Diversion Orders, which are aimed at anyone aged under 22 that is involved in terrorist offending, in order to 'divert them from the wider criminal justice system', including prosecution. But he pointed out that Rudakubana's crimes were not terror-related and the inquiry will, therefore, look closely at whether the State should be able to impose restrictions on individuals if there is strong evidence that they intend to commit serious violent crimes per se. Measures such as imposing curfews, tags, or placing restrictions on their movement or ability to use the internet and social media, or to require psychological intervention until the risk is deemed to have been reduced. Sir Adrian said he expected all organisations and witnesses taking part in the hearings to be candid and 'frank' and to 'volunteer information about errors' and things which went wrong. He said he expected his first report on the first phase of the inquiry to be completed by early next year at the latest. Rachael Wong, director at law firm Bond Turner, representing the three bereaved families, said they would be doing all they could to help Sir Adrian get to the 'truth.' 'We know that nothing the inquiry reveals or subsequently recommends will change the unimaginable loss felt by the families of Elsie, Alice and Bebe, but we all now have a responsibility to ensure that something like this never happens again,' she said. 'We will be doing all we can to assist the chair through the inquiry and uncover the truth. 'It is only through intense public scrutiny that real change can be effected.' Impact statements from parents of four child survivors will be read to the inquiry tomorrow. The hearings will then be adjourned until September, when more statements from the remaining relatives of victims and survivors will continue. The second phase will look at the more wider 'troubling trend' of children being drawn into extreme violence and what can be done to reverse this, the chairman added. The widespread rioting and civil unrest following the murders is not being examined by the inquiry.
