Councillor criticises asbestos fly-tipper’s ‘weak sentence’

The suspended sentence handed to a man who dumped asbestos in a busy East Ham street has been criticised by a councillor.

Arvinder Tooray appeared for sentencing at Thames Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, having previously pleaded guilty at a court hearing in March.

The court heard that the 48-year-old of New Road, Dagenham, was caught fly-tipping in the back garden of a property in Grangewood Street on Wednesday, February 4, having been turned away from a landfill site.

Officers from the Enforcement Partnership Team found a trail of debris on the road which led to the rubbish and a red Ford Transit van stacked with more.

Tooray, who has a waste licence, and two others were found inside the van and arrested.

An investigation found the debris and rubbish included corrugated sheets of asbestos, including the dangerous blue asbestos, which has been linked with lung cancer.

Chief magistrate Robert Jackson called it “a serious offence of fly-tipping waste.”

He said: “Some went on to the pavement near a school where children would walk past and members of the public could possibly breathe in the dust particles.”

Tooray was handed a 16 week jail term, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 200 hours of community service.

He was also told to pay £3,101.30 in costs, as well as an £80 victim surcharge.

But the decision was criticised by Cllr Ian Corbett, mayoral advisor for environment and leisure.

He said: “This was an outrageous crime committed by a man who was either too lazy or too greedy to dispose of this asbestos safely and this magistrate has let him off the hook.

“This weak sentence acts as little deterrent to the likes of Tooray from dumping on our streets.”