Edgeworthstown man pleads guilty to burning rubbish

James Gibson, Lisnanagh, Edgeworthstown, Longford, was before Judge Seamus Hughes at Longford District Court last week.

His solicitor, John Quinn, said that he was “technically pleading guilty”, meaning he was pleading guilty to the burning of the rubbish at the property.

“Longford County Council received a complaint on August 14, 2019, about dumping at a house in Lisnanagh, Co Longford,” said Bernard Shea of Longford County Council.

“It was initially investigated by the litter warden, who met the accused a few times to ask him to clean up the site.”

A number of photographs were handed in to the court by Mr Shea, showing the extent of the dumping on the site.

“James can be seen in the photographs burning the waste. Other people were dumping the waste but he was giving them access to the house,” said Mr Shea.

“How many mattresses do I see here? Enough for a hotel,” Judge Hughes remarked, examining the photographs.
Mr Shea explained to the judge that, to date, the site still hadn’t been cleaned up.

“There are still four or five skiploads of waste there. I’m not sure that people paid him but he allowed them to dump their waste,” he said.

Mr Quinn explained that his client was not running a business, but that it became known that people were dumping waste on the site.

Mr Gibson himself explained that the dumping was happening when he wasn’t living in the house too.

“He was in situ. He was the man who was responsible,” Judge Hughes remarked.

“This is persistent, despite council efforts to get the site cleared up. We’ve been ignored,” Mr Shea told the court and, while Mr Quinn explained that his client had engaged with the council at every opportunity, it was noted that there had been further dumping incidents since the prosecution was first brought before the court in May, though none since the last court appearance a month ago.

“Dumping in a home he’s occupying continued up until a month ago,” said Judge Hughes.

“What have you done to prevent other people from dumping on the property? Are you prepared to have all the rubbish cleaned out of there in three weeks?”

“I’m on benefits and I have a baby due prematurely in two weeks. I could get family members to help me with trailers and bring it load by load to Mulleadys,” said Mr Gibson. However, he would need a couple of months, he added.

When asked his opinion, Mr Shea stressed to the judge the importance of getting the site cleaned up, expressing the council’s concern that it be cleaned up in an appropriate manner.

“But wouldn’t you rather he do the work?” Judge Hughes asked.

“As long as it was disposed of properly,” said Mr Shea.

Judge Hughes finalised the issue by ordering Mr Gibson to have the site cleaned up by his next court appearance on May 26, warning that inspections would be carried out.

“You’re to dispose of the waste only with Mulleadys. You have to have all receipts with you when you come back to court. I want to see how much it costs,” Judge Hughes concluded.