Larissa Wilkinson with niece Lila Henderson. Larissa was taken to crown court after Lila threw a sweet wrapper out of the window of a car Larissa was driving
Posted on 06/19/2009 3:40:29 PM PDT by rawhide
A judge has hit out at a 'grotesque' waste of taxpayers' money after a student was hauled before the court after her 14-month-old niece dropped a sweet wrapper.
Larissa Wilkinson, 19, appeared at Crown Court accused of 'depositing controlled waste' after her misdemeanour was reported by a passer-by last March.
She was driving her Fiat Punto in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, when her niece, Lyla Henderson, picked up the wrapper from her car seat and dropped it from the window.
Miss Wilkinson's number plate was immediately taken down and handed to Kirklees Council who later issued her with a fixed penalty notice for £75.
Despite being unable to pay - she receives just £30 a week as a student at Dewsbury Art College - the council spent thousands pursuing her relentlessly, and issued a further nine warning letters.
Finally, in February this year, they sent her a court summons charging her with dropping litter from a vehicle and demanded she appear before magistrates in Huddersfield.
He (the judge) was so incensed that he refused to let Miss Wilkinson sit in the dock and instead asked her to stand in the witness box.
Legal experts have estimated that the farce had stung the public purse for a total of £5,000.
During his tirade Judge Scott asked the prosecutor representing Kirklees Council: 'Can you explain to me why this charge was ever brought against this lady - she has dropped a single sweet wrapper?
'I cannot for the life of me see it's appropriate. It's the most inappropriate set of proceedings I've personally ever, ever seen and it's a fantastic waste of community charge payers' money.
'This was a grotesque misuse of the powers of the authorities to proceed on indictment for dropping a sweet wrapper.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Larissa Wilkinson with niece Lila Henderson. Larissa was taken to crown court after Lila threw a sweet wrapper out of the window of a car Larissa was driving
Hitler abandoned his ambition to invade Britain after the Luftwaffe failed to defeat the Royal Air Force. He needn’t have bothered. The Nazis are now firmly in control of this little island and this judge is but a whistle in the wind.
Seig Heil, your Majesty.
A Fiat Punto?
In this country, after the third letter, they would have done a SWAT dynamic entry with stun grenades, killed her kitten, face planted her on the floor and cuffed her and trashed her house.
Well, maybe not........but it sounded good
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