Pleaded guilty to waste management charges after burning mobile home roof

A Ballyshannon man who decided to burn part of the roof of a mobile home on an acre and a quarter of land he owned after it was blown off in a storm pleaded guilty to a number of offences under the Waste Management Act at Friday’s sitting of Ballyshannon Court

Before the court was Thomas Murray, from 37 Erne Heights in Ballyshannon who pleaded guilty to some of the charges through his solicitor Gerry McGovern, while others were struck out with no order. 

Evidence was given by Waste Enforcement Officer with Donegal County Council (DCC), Donna Maskerey, who said that she had met up with Gda McDermott at Ballyshannon Garda Station before attending the site of the scene of the incident at Dunmuckrim, Ballyshannon in 2021.

She had been shown pictures of illegal waste burning and destruction of a mobile home from Donegal fire services and that of burning rubbish at a location in Dunmuckrim, Ballyshannon.

The fire had taken place at the location on January 9, 2021 and photos were shown to the court of the incident and aftermath.

Complaints had been received previously about the site but no potential for environment pollution had been observed by the council, she said.  

Mr Murray had engaged with the Fire services, she told solicitor Kevin McElhinney of VP McMullin on behalf of DCC.

The land itself had now been cleared and there was documentation of the hiring of skips through recognised disposal agencies to that effect. 

She was satisfied that Mr Murray had met the conditions relating to the subsequent clean up. 

She was cross examined by the defendant's solicitor, Mr McGovern, who was told that his client had fully engaged with the Council.

He said that Mr Murray had responded to all things asked of him and the site is now perfect. 

Some of the delays in clearing the site had been caused by mobility issues.

It was a small area one and a quarter acres with Mr Murray’s himself briefly stating from the body of the court, that he used the land for raising the likes of hens, pigs, ducks and geese, while Judge Sandra Murphy also noted that she had seen a donkey in another photo produced to the court.

Solicitor McGovern, on behalf of his client, said that all the issues had arisen after the roof had been blown off a mobile home in a storm.

While his client had removed some metal debris from the roof, the trouble arose when burned the rest and “that is where the problem started”, his solicitor told the court.

He added that his client had no qualms with the council in the matter. 

He was married, had a disability and had no previous convictions of this nature.

He was thankful in the way the matters were dealt with by DCC. 

He took the wrong route of disposing of the roof of the mobile. He had taken off the metal on it and had disposed of it, but “burned the rest which was the wrong thing”. 

Mr McGovern added that the Council had given his client the time and “he assured them he would do it and that is what he did”.

When the issues of costs came up, which were said to be €3,264.16 he suggested that the council had a “broad back” and sought for them to be reduced, as his client had already spent a significant sum of money in clearing the land, which DCC did not have to engage with.

Murray pleaded guilty to section 3A of the Waste Management Act 1996, for causing the unauthorised management of waste at the site contrary to the 1996 Act and section 4C of the same act, to  “dispose of waste in a manner that was likely to cause environmental pollution. 

The duplicate pleas referenced both the initial fire on January 9, 2021 and subsequent visit of the land at Dunmuckrim on February 1 of that year. 

Having heard the mitigation and outlays already undertaken by the defendant in the matter, Judge Sandra Murphy suggested that a fine of €250 on each of the two charges that a guilty plea had been entered into, be imposed, for the initial January 9 charges and that the guilty pleas for the same charges on the February 1 visit would be taken into consideration.    

However, she adjourned a final decision on all matters including costs to the May 5, 2023 sitting of the court to allow discussion between Mr McElhinney on behalf of Donegal County Council and Mr McGovern, on behalf of the defendant, to take place regarding the prosecution costs and outlays.