Man jailed for rubbish dumping

Photo / File

A Northland hapu group hopes a jail term handed out to a man for dumping demolition rubbish in a state forest will deter others from desecrating their land with trash.

Michael Scott Kells was jailed for a total of five months for two charges of unlawfully converting a motor vehicle and one of depositing/leaving dangerous litter in a public place.

Kells, 46, was working for rubbish disposal company Waste Management when he illegally took a company truck after hours on August 5 last year, drove to Bream Bay and picked up a load of demolition waste from a home being renovated.

Kells received $400 cash for dumping the rubbish, but instead of taking it to the dump, he drove into Russell State Forest, on the Russell-Whakapara Rd, and dumped it down a bank.

In the Whangarei District Court last week, Judge Greg Davis sentenced Kells to five months' jail for the unlawful taking charges and one month's jail for dumping the trash.

Police prosecutor Stu Wilkes said while it might be argued this was a victimless crime, his contention was that there were more than four million victims - the New Zealand public who don't want their environment ruined.

The huge piles of trash were discovered by Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust chairman Wayne Johnstone, who was repairing fences on trust land nearby when he noticed the truck's tyre marks coming from the forest.

Mr Johnstone was shocked when he walked into the bush and discovered the piles of waste.

"I was quite disgusted really. It was a lot of Gib board and other demolition stuff that wouldn't easily break down, if at all. We've had rubbish dumped there before, but never to this extent," he said.

"So I sifted through it and found a bit of wood with a name on that I recognised. I traced it back to a house that had recently sold and was being renovated so contacted the home's new owner and he didn't believe me at first, but was quite shocked when it was confirmed. I left it with him because he was so concerned about it and he contacted the police," he said.

"We have people dumping on our land and beside the roads - though normally just the odd rubbish bag or bits of litter - but once people see rubbish in a place more people will dump there, and it just grows and grows and before you know it you have a really big problem," he said.

"I think the jail term will show people that if they are going to dump rubbish on our lands they can go to jail. Hopefully it stops them."

Mr Johnstone said Waste Management hadn't been aware that Kells was doing the dumping and the company had been very responsible in cleaning up the rubbish, even though it had no obligation to.