A traveller who was jailed for harassing his neighbours has appeared in court again - for illegally burning rubbish on his land.
John Doherty has this time been fined £10,000 for ignoring warnings not to illegally burn waste on his land in Overseal.
Doherty, 35, who was living in Woodville Road at the time, subjected his long-suffering neighbours to potentially high levels of pollution, Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court heard.
It comes after he was jailed in October last year for 38 weeks for harassment of his neighbours.
Sergeant Graham Summers, of Swadlincote Police, said at the time that Doherty thought he was "untouchable" due to his attitude and tactics. However, he was convicted in court after careful investigation by police officers.
At the latest court hearing he was made the subject of verbal and written orders – and was served with an abatement notice over the burning of waste - by environmental health officers from South Derbyshire District Council, who took the case to court.
The council took legal action after Doherty set fire to commercial waste consisting of a mix of plastics, rubber and other materials in a large skip on his property in May 2017.
Doherty, who admitted the offence, was ordered to pay a £10,000 fine, costs of £1,875.90 and a £170 victim surcharge.
The latest court case comes months after Doherty was jailed after being found guilty of harassment of his neighbours committed between April 28, 2016, and April 26, 2017.
It previously emerged that he had flooded six neighbours’ homes after he dumped a pile of hard core rubble onto his land without permission , filling their sewage pipes with concrete leaving water unable to drain away.
When he was jailed he was also made the subject of a five-year Criminal Behaviour Order. This prevented Doherty from having any outdoor fires, blocking access to vehicles and operating outdoor machinery, which he had now breached and which led to the council taking the case to court.
Doherty was previously embroiled in a row with the district council which turned down his plan to set up a five-pitch traveller site on land to the rear of 137 to 149 Woodville Road, Overseal.
But an independent Government inspector, Paul Dignan, later approved the plans, after Doherty appealed over the council's decision.
In October, last year, Doherty caused traffic mayhem when a static caravan moved from his site became stuck at an angle in Woodville Road at about 9am. Police were called to the scene to manage the traffic.
Speaking after the latest court case, South Derbyshire councillor Peter Watson, chairman of the environment and development services committee, said: "The council has been monitoring air quality across South Derbyshire for several years to assess it against international health standards.
"We are proud that we have clean air quality and we will use all enforcement powers available to us to deal with illegal activity which puts this at risk.
"The court made it clear there will be a big price to pay for those who potentially endanger the health of other residents."
Anyone who wishes to report pollution in South Derbyshire is urged to complete an online form at www.south-derbys.gov.uk
Under the terms of his Criminal Behaviour Order, Doherty must not:
1. Personally or by instructing, permitting or encouraging others, act in an anti-social manner, that it is to say a manner likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress, to victim, or any one or more persons within Overseal.
2. Cause, permit or encourage, any controlled waste to be accumulated at his home address in Woodville Road, Overseal, and/or dispose of such waste without lawful authority. This requirement shall not apply to such domestic household wastes as are lawfully secured and contained in containers, namely domestic ‘wheelie bins’, at the premises in accordance with the requirements of the local waste collection authority, South Derbyshire District Council.
3. Have any outdoor fires on the land within the curtilage of his home address in Woodville Road that cause nuisance to other residents or potentially cause their health to be put at risk through the emittance of thick smoke.
4. Park any vehicle, caravan or trailer wholly or partly on the footpaths in Woodville Road, Overseal.
5. Block the access, including vehicle access of any resident of Woodville Road, Overseal in such a way which would impede them from driving on or off their property or cause them any difficulty in accessing their property.
6. Inhibit the views out of neighbour’s windows with any construction, tree or shrub in a manner that may be considered designed, intended, or calculated to cause nuisance or annoyance to any other neighbour on Woodville Road, Overseal.
7. Operate any outdoor machinery, power tools or undertake any construction work within the curtilage of his home address in Woodville Road; after the hours of 7pm or before 8am Monday to Friday, outside of the hours 8am to 1.30pm on Saturdays and at no time on Sundays or Bank or Public Holidays.
8. Cause or act in a manner likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to any one or more persons within Overseal, by way of carrying out, permitting or causing works of construction, demolition, alteration or other similar works or activities in breach of planning controls or conditions or otherwise at unreasonable hours or in such manner that may be considered to be carried out with a view to causing harassment, alarm or distress.
9. Directly or indirectly, whether alone or in concert with or by assisting, permitting or encouraging others, cause or act in a manner likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to any person by way of the playing of amplified music, abusive or excessive shouting or use of intimidation within Overseal.
10. Directly or indirectly, whether alone or in concert with or by assisting, permitting or encouraging others, use signs or gestures calculated, displayed or carried out in a manner likely to cause distress to the victim Overseal.
