Fine for litter that isn’t mine.

Grumpy_chap

Mark_d said:

So someone ordered pizza for delivery to your address, but it was not you or your daughter? Neither you nor your daughter took delivery of the pizza - so maybe a stranger was at your address on the date in question?

The stranger does not need to have been in the OP's address, just nearby.

This could happen if someone was in a park (or similar) and ordered a pizza so gave a random house number on the street for delivery, then just hovered nearby to collect the pizza on arrival before consuming in the park.
The OP will know if there is anything of this nature in the area.

Kim_13

How long have you lived there? Wondering if it’s possible that the previous resident(s) placed the order and after paying, realised that the address was out of date and, unable to get the pizza place to change the address or cancel the order, drove down to get the pizza. Annoying that they didn’t take the litter if so though.

I’d ask the pizza place to put their response in writing - if you later get taken to court for non-payment of the FPN and can provide evidence of the pizza place refusing to engage with you due to data protection then that would seem to show that someone else’s name was on the order.

Can an FPN even be enforced if there was no name on the box? Possible that they’re just speculatively issuing having picked a name from the electoral roll at random hoping to scare someone into paying? OP is not responsible for the actions of their adult daughter and she is not responsible for OPs actions. More often than not, it would be a resident and you’d hope the majority were decent enough to confess if someone else was falsely accused of something they’d done. So I can see why the council would issue it on that basis, but would be surprised if they did proceed to court.

If it gets to court, how would the council prove that you (if you had ordered the pizza) hadn’t put the box in the bin and someone else threw it out later (whether the owner of the bin or otherwise) to get their own rubbish in? Bins are getting smaller, collections less frequent than they used to be and bins left in any random place by crews. It seems that all you have to do to not be guilty of flytipping is to put the rubbish in any bin whether it belongs to you or not so I don’t see how they could prove that the box was never in the bin. If a sofa had been left with an address on, that would be different.

Alderbank

I think the alleged offence here is permitting the escape of waste.

The occupier of domestic premises has a duty to take reasonable steps to ensure that waste produced in the premises is only transferred to authorised waste handlers. In practice that will be the collectors who empty your bins or taking it to a household recycling centre.
The waste can be produced by family members or visitors but the occupier is responsible for making sure it doesn't 'escape'.

That is in contrast to littering, where you have to be seen doing it, so eye witnesses or bodycam recordings are necessary.

OP, have you been shown the alleged evidence?
Was your address printed or handwritten? The simplest explanation could be that it looks like your address but it's not. Some handwritten numbers can be very confusing. I always read a French '1' as a 7.

user1977

Or printed labels get chopped off and miss digits.

I can’t see it being proved beyond reasonable doubt in a court. I suspect very few such cases end up being prosecuted unless significant enough and with evidence which stacks up.

Ju.

Grumpy_chap said:

Mark_d said:

So someone ordered pizza for delivery to your address, but it was not you or your daughter? Neither you nor your daughter took delivery of the pizza - so maybe a stranger was at your address on the date in question?

The stranger does not need to have been in the OP's address, just nearby.

This could happen if someone was in a park (or similar) and ordered a pizza so gave a random house number on the street for delivery, then just hovered nearby to collect the pizza on arrival before consuming in the park.
The OP will know if there is anything of this nature in the area.

I think this is what happened. I live right next door to a place that holds events all the time and opposite there is another place that does the same. 

Ju.

lisyloo said:

But they have to take you to court and if you say you have proof it wasn't your daughter and you're prepared to fight in court then the onus is on them.
if you're totally credible then why would a judge believe it was you?
inconvneient - yes

You haven't had any arguments with anyone lately have you? like an ex? who might do this and then report you for fly-tipping. Just a thought.

No I haven’t. The picture used in evidence with the notice shows what looks like 2 black bags that have split open, placed next to a public bin. The box has come out of one. The other rubbish looks like the aftermath of a food event. Paper plates and plastic cutlery covered in left over food. I don’t think it was maliciously done but they’ve used my address probably because the place they were at (stables or church hall) doesn’t show up on the pizza place delivery options. 

m0bov

If the OP was never in possession of the pizza box, how can they prosecute them?? All they have is a pizza with an address. Its very common for kids out and about to use an address and collect it outside. Hence no name.

Its a criminal case, so they have to produce evidence beyond all reasonable doubt. Can they do that? Do they have witnesses? Would they interview the delivery driver??

Ju.

m0bov said:

If the OP was never in possession of the pizza box, how can they prosecute them?? All they have is a pizza with an address. Its very common for kids out and about to use an address and collect it outside. Hence no name.

Its a criminal case, so they have to produce evidence beyond all reasonable doubt. Can they do that? Do they have witnesses? Would they interview the delivery driver??

They can’t have witnesses to it being delivered to my address because it never happened. My worry is that if they did interview the driver would he lie because he could lose his job over it or something but then I think surely someone wouldn’t perjure themselves. This is what makes it so tricky. I’m a born worrier sadly. 

user1977

Ju. said:

m0bov said:

If the OP was never in possession of the pizza box, how can they prosecute them?? All they have is a pizza with an address. Its very common for kids out and about to use an address and collect it outside. Hence no name.

Its a criminal case, so they have to produce evidence beyond all reasonable doubt. Can they do that? Do they have witnesses? Would they interview the delivery driver??

My worry is that if they did interview the driver would he lie because he could lose his job over it or something but then I think surely someone wouldn’t perjure themselves.

The council are not going to be sending detectives out to interrogate delivery drivers about a pizza box.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Ju. said:

 The picture used in evidence with the notice shows what looks like 2 black bags that have split open, placed next to a public bin. The box has come out of one. The other rubbish looks like the aftermath of a food event. Paper plates and plastic cutlery covered in left over food. 

How much was the fine OP?