Latest news with #FusionEngineering
BBC News
5 days ago
- BBC News
Uttoxeter man Darren Sheen, 39, appears in court over fly-tipping
A Staffordshire businessman has appeared in court charged over the flytipping of 27 tonnes of waste that blocked a road. Darren Sheen, 39, from Uttoxeter is accused of multiple offences - including depositing waste, road traffic infringements, and obstructing the highway, but entered no plea at the Cannock Magistrates' Court addition, his firm Fusion Engineering (Staffordshire) Limited is charged with depositing the waste and obstructing the January, Watery Lane in Lichfield was blocked with the rubbish, which measured 15m (50 ft) in length and 2m (6.5 ft) high. Mr Sheen spoke only to confirm his name, address and date of birth, during the hearing at Cannock Magistrates' is also accused of breaching HGV drivers' hours regulations, but gave no indication of his intended plea and was granted unconditional case was referred to Stafford Crown Court, where the next hearing is due to take place on 4 August. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS BOSS accused of fly-tipping 27 TONNES of untreated waste on country lane - cutting off access to village
A company owner appeared before magistrates today charged with fly-tipping 27 tonnes of untreated waste on a country lane. 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.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Man accused of dumping 27 tonnes of waste in country lane appears in court
A man who allegedly dumped 27 tonnes of waste which blocked off access to homes and businesses on a country lane has appeared 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.
