Charity worker given 'ridiculous' £400 fine following his honest mistake

A man was "gutted" to receive a "ridiculous" £400 fine - after he left a bag of clothes outside a charity shop.

When Jan Goodey left the garments outside the Shabitat charity shop in Brighton, East Sussex - something he has done for 15 years - he thought nothing of it. However, the 60-year-old man later received a three-figure fine for his troubles, along with a letter accusing him of fly-tipping.

The letter even stated that Mr Goodey's failure to pay the fine could result in a criminal prosecution. The charity worker had an appeal against the fine rejected by Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC), before it was eventually revoked this month.

Mr Goodey, who works for the charity Brighton Permaculture Trust, said he collects fly-tipping himself as part of his work - which added insult to injury. He said that, though there was a sign warning against fly-tipping outside the store, he was satisfied that his donation wouldn't be considered as dumping rubbish.

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Mr Goodey, from Brighton, said: "I dropped off a bag of clothes at Shabitat, as I have done for the last 15 years. At the time, I thought the flytipping sign was for builders or something, not me - I'm just bringing a bag of donations.

"BHCC wrote to me and said, 'We are going to fine you £400'. I am a low-paid worker. I run community orchards for the Brighton Permaculture Trust. I collect fly tipping as part of my job, so there was no way I was going to get a criminal record for fly tipping. It's just ridiculous."

Mr Goodey added that he was determined he would not receive a criminal conviction for what he called an "honest mistake". He said: "I’m gutted... I had been in touch with the council and the shop. I said it was an honest mistake; I was not fly tipping, and you should drop this.

"I went to appeal with the council and lost. I couldn't believe it. It's not like they're hitting you for £25 - it was £400. It was just ridiculous. Thankfully, the council has now rescinded the fine."

Councillor Tim Rowkins, a BHCC Cabinet member for Net Zero and Environmental Services, said the charity shop had contacted the council to report Mr Goodey's donation as a fly tip.

He said: "We obviously encourage people to support local charities by donating unwanted items. Like most charities, Shabitat does have signage on its premises asking people not to leave bags outside without permission.

"Shabitat contacted the council to report this as a fly-tip and supplied CCTV footage. Consequently, an officer issued a fixed penalty notice.

"Clearly, this person was trying to do something positive to help a local charity and reduce items going to waste - both [of which are] things that we actively promote as a council. With that in mind, we rescinded the fine."