Councillor’s vigilance leads to court conviction over illegal dumping
An alert county councillor discovered four bags of illegally dumped rubbish in a bog in Abbeyknockmoy and immediately alerted the community warden – as the bags contained extensive documentation identifying a North Galway woman.
And it resulted in Niamh Garvey from Sylane, Tuam, being prosecuted by Galway County Council for illegal dumping. She was convicted of the offence after she failed to appear before Tuam District Court to face the offence.
The court was told that the woman had informed an Environmental Officer with Galway County Council that she had given the bags to a friend to deposit at a waste disposal firm in Tuam and had given this friend money to do so.
However, she was not in court to give this evidence and neither was the alleged friend. Garvey was ordered to pay a €250 along with €350 in legal expenses.
In evidence Community Warden for Tuam Christy Corcoran told the court that he had been informed by Cllr Pete Roche of the discovery of four bags of waste, some of which contained large quantities of documentation.
He explained that Cllr Roche and other volunteers were carrying out a clean-up of the bog in Abbeyknockmoy, which has become prone to illegal dumping, and during the course of this operation the bags were found.
The Community Warden examined the bags and discovered documentation including bank statements, credit union statements, HSE documents among others that all had Niamh Garvey’s name on them.
Mr Corcoran then presented quite a bulky folder containing all of the documentation that was recovered from the bags that were dumped in the bog to Judge Deirdre Gearty.
The Judge remarked that she noticed the defendant’s name on the documentation that was presented to her.
Kevin Mulrennan, an Enforcement Officer in the Environmental Section of Galway County Council, told the court that he had also examined the contents and found the defendant’s name on the documentation.
He said that he was of the opinion that the person who disposed the waste was likely to cause environmental pollution. He added that proceedings were then issued against Niamh Garvey.
Mr Mulrennan told the court that in early March this year the defendant rang him after receiving the summons to attend court. He said that she asked him for the details of what was found and where it was found. She was informed that the bags were discovered in Abbeyknockmoy and that there was documentation containing her name.
The witness said that the defendant told him that she was moving out of her rented accommodation and back home. She had asked a friend to bring bags of rubbish to WERS Waste in Tuam and that she gave her money to do this.
The defendant said that she did not know how it was dumped and Mr Mulrennan advised her to inquire off her friend what had happened. “I have not heard from her since,” he added.
Judge Gearty said that she could only deal with the evidence in front of her and concluded that the bags were dumped in such a manner as to harm the environment. She concluded that the items in the bags were “very clearly hers”.