By Daniel Walton

Copyright expressandstar

Wolverhampton Council have taken action after an ‘unimaginable’ incident where an unlicensed waste carrier dumped clothes, rubbish and furniture on a gravesite in Wolverhampton.

Damian Maiden, of Jonesfield Crescent, Eastfield, had promoted his services as a ‘waste carrier’ on social media when he was contacted by a resident in the Bushbury Hill area of Wolverhampton.

However, after picking up the trash, items were discovered discarded on graves at Holy Trinity Church, Heath Town.

Church officials discovered the piles of bags, furniture and clothes dumped across a number of graves sites on Friday, November 15, 2024.

The church immediately arranged for the waste to be removed and disposed of, and contacted the council’s environmental crime team to report the incident.

After discovering evidence in the dumped waste, officials were able to see phone messages between Maiden and the resident, as well as doorbell footage of the waste.

Maiden was issued a notice requiring waste transfer notes for his removals business, but he failed to comply, and it became clear that Maiden was not a registered waste carrier at the time of the incident.

The council then prosecuted, and Maiden pleaded guilty to one charge under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and one under the Control of Pollution Act 1989 at Dudley Magistrates Court on July 30.

He was ordered to pay a total of £948 in fines and costs for the first charge, with no separate penalty being imposed for the second charge.

The costs awarded to the council will be reinvested in its environmental crime service.

Councillor Bhupinder Gakhal, cabinet member for resident services at Wolverhampton Council, said: “Dumping waste is bad enough, but having the sheer lack of respect to leave it scattered across graves in the grounds of a church is utterly disgusting.

“What anybody must be thinking to do this is unimaginable to me, as I’m sure it is to the vast majority of residents in our city. This is a disgraceful example of the problem the council is facing, and it just makes us more determined to tackle the people who do it.

“I would also like to use this case to encourage any residents who may be considering employing a waste carrier to make sure that you carefully check their business details before engaging them.”

The church also received a £100 Enjoy Wolverhampton gift card for providing evidence under the council’s Shop a Tipper scheme.