Sunderland woman must fork out more than £200 after court conviction for dropping pasty

Joanne Robson, 44, of Gladstone Street, Roker, Sunderland, was caught discarding the snack and leaving it on the ground in the city centre’s Crowtree Road.

She was prosecuted by Sunderland City Council for breaching the 1990 Environmental Protection Act and convicted in her absence at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court.

Robson must now pay a £90 fine, a £32 victim surcharge and £85 prosecution costs following the incident on August 27 last year.

Court documents say “the defendant threw down, dropped or otherwise deposited the remains of a pasty in Crowtree Road, near the TK Maxx store, and left it there”.

Using the same powers in the 1990 act, the council also successfully prosecuted three other women at the court for littering offences after they were caught discarding cigarettes in the city centre by enforcement officers.

Joanne Nicklin, 41, of Quayside House, in Sunderland’s East End, is also £207 worse off after she was ordered to pay identical sums when it was proved in her absence that she dropped a lit cigarette in the Market Square on September 6 last year.

Kim Davison, 31, of Lumley Gardens, Felling Shore, is £178 out of pocket after admitting discarding and leaving a cigarette end in Crowtree Road on October 14 last year.

She must pay a £61 fine, a £32 victim surcharge and £85 costs.

Julie Branning, 44, of Hedworth Lane, Jarrow, must pay a £60 fine, a £32 victim surcharge and £85 costs after pleading guilty to dropping a cigarette butt in High Street West on the same day.

Council leader Councillor Graeme Miller said after the verdicts: “We hope these cases reinforce the message that we are not prepared to see people treating our city like a dustbin.

"This is in line with our zero tolerance approach to littering and fly-tipping which is a direct response to residents’ demands for clean streets and a tougher approach to those caught littering.”

The council – backed by the Sunderland Echo’s Clean Streets campaign to keep the city tidy – has regularly prosecuted offenders for littering breaches.

Cllr Miller added: “If you are caught littering you can face a penalty notice and if you ignore this you can face court action.”

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