Man caught red-handed committing illegal act on rural road: 'Will be investigated and prosecuted'

A British man who advertised waste-removal services is now in jail after being caught dumping trash on a rural road, the BBC reported.

Dwayne Simpson, 22, was sentenced to 13 weeks in jail after being convicted of illegally dumping waste and not having the proper documentation to carry waste.

According to Derbyshire County officials, Simpson promoted a waste-removal business on social media and was paid for those services by at least two people. However, a person caught Simpson "fly-tipping" — illegally disposing of household or industrial waste — on a rural road in Eckington, a small town southeast of Sheffield.

That citizen jotted down the offending car's license plate number, which, along with details found in some of the dumped trash, led officials to Simpson. He pleaded not guilty to three counts of dumping trash but was found guilty in a trial earlier this year and sentenced to jail time in July.

Along with the jail sentence, Simpson was ordered to pay a fine of more than $5,800 and reimburse $185 to the people who paid him to remove the waste.

"Rogue operators who ignore the law and blight our communities will be investigated and prosecuted," Stephen Pickering, councillor for environmental services, told the BBC.

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Illegal dumping is a common problem in the United Kingdom. Officials reported 1.14 million incidents between April 2023 and March 2024, a 6% increase over the previous year.

Roughly 60% of those illegal dumping incidents involved household waste, and they happened most frequently on highways. All of these incidents can cause major community and environmental damage, as the toxins and chemicals contained in waste can seep into soil and waterways, posing a threat to the locals, ecosystem, and wildlife.

In recent months, several such cases have made national news in the UK.

In Lichfield, a man is accused of dumping about 30 tons of waste in the middle of the road and faces up to seven years in prison. Another man was caught dumping large pieces of plastic foam on a farm, and trash has even been illegally dumped at a Birkenhead cemetery.