A workman who dumped 51 tonnes of tyres on waste ground has been jailed for 11 months.
Declan Clarke, 30, from Dumbarton, collected the tyres from places such as garages for a fee and then dumped them in car parks and empty land around Glasgow.
Prosecutors said the vast majority of the tyres were dumped at Dalsetter Crescent in Drumchapel and were consumed in a fire on July 24, 2020. It caused so much smoke it disrupted flights at Glasgow Airport.
Two days later, the remnants were cleared by Glasgow City Council workers. They found the debris consisted of 51 tonnes of tyres and 17 tonnes of household waste.
Around 500 tyres were dumped at Gartloch Farm, near Gartcosh to the east of Glasgow, between October 8 and 22, 2020 while more tyres were deposited there on November 13 the same year.
Clarke pleaded guilty to depositing controlled waste, namely used tyres, on or in land otherwise than in accordance with a waste management licence, in breach of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, at a previous court hearing in April.
He was sentenced to 11 months behind bars when he appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court for sentencing on Wednesday, the Crown Office said.
Speaking after Clarke was sentenced, Fiona Caldwell, procurator fiscal for wildlife and environmental crime, said: “Fly-tipping causes the public real and legitimate concern. It is criminal behaviour which creates an eyesore and is costly to clear up and one that the local council must often carry.
“Declan Clarke’s deliberate and criminal action showed a lack of consideration for the environment and undermines legitimate waste management companies.
“There is no excuse for illegal dumping of waste and those who choose to engage in it will be brought to account for their actions.”
Prosecutors said that between June and August 2020, a large number of tyres were fly-tipped in the Drumchapel area.
As well as those dumped at Dalsetter Crescent, tyres were left at Drummore Road, Glenkirk Drive and at the Donald Dewar Centre.
Gartloch Farm has frequently been used as a dumping ground by fly-tippers and as a result wildlife cameras have been installed on the land.
These cameras captured Clarke, using a number of different hire vans, dumping tyres.
On November 20, 2020 police executed a search warrant at Clarke’s home and found him hiding under a bed.
During the search a key for another hire van was discovered and the vehicle, parked outside his flat, was found to be full of tyres.
A mobile phone was also seized which was found to contain messages between Clarke and proprietors of vehicle garages and tyre fitters in which the collection of tyres was discussed.
From the messages it appeared that Clarke was charging £1-£2 per tyre and in one message dated November 18, 2020 he stated: “It’s getting a bit hot to get rid of them.”
Clarke was not connected to the fire.
Prosecutors said the cost of cleaning up Dalsetter Crescent was £7,245.16, while the estimated cost of cleaning up Gartloch Farm is £120,000 and a further £2,800 to dispose of the remaining tyres.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel