A dad-of-three was threatened with court action by a council for "littering" a TV he purchased from Amazon - despite him never receiving the order.
Matthew Edwardes, 44, purchased the Echo Show 15 full HD smart display with Alexa and Fire TV for £214. But instead of receiving the tech, he was slapped with a fixed penalty notice in the post. According to the fine, he had been seen "depositing litter" at Dartford Grammar School, which is a mile from his home.
Dartford Council sent him a letter which claimed an officer "witnessed" him dumping an empty Amazon box outside of a music centre. "I couldn't believe it when it dropped through my door. I never go to the Mick Jagger Centre or even that way into Dartford," Matthew said. "They sent me a picture of the box but not of me dumping it. There was no way I was going to pay it but I couldn't get through to anyone to appeal."
Matthew had video evidence of him parking at his office at the same time as the alleged tipping took place, proving it couldn't have been him. Despite this, he spent hours on the phone and online trying to appeal the fine but was met with dead ends at every turn. He eventually gave up and just hoped the issue would go away.
The dad said he didn't receive the TV from Amazon (Bloomberg via Getty Images)On April 29, he received a final reminder through his door warning him that if he did not pay the £75 penalty he would be forced to attend court and risk paying out £2,500 if he was found guilty. Matthew, whose most egregious infraction with the law was a speeding ticket in the noughties, has had the issue hanging over him for almost three months after receiving the first letter on February 21.
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The parcel he was alleged to have dumped was seen abandoned one mile from his home. “Common sense would say that it would be easier to dump this small box in my recycle bin rather than traipse across Dartford to dispose of it,” he said. Matthew, a director of electrical company Edwardes Brothers, said the whole issue has been very stressful.
He said: “It seems very much a case of guilty until proven innocent with regards to this as per the advice on Dartford council’s website.” The website states there are “no formal grounds of appeal against a fixed penalty notice”. The website stated: "This is because a fixed penalty notice is an invitation for you to effectively ‘buy off’ your liability to prosecution."
As a last resort, he went to the media and within 24 hours received an email telling him his fine had been rescinded. Matthew said he feels sorry for people who are too scared to fight the system and will pay the £75 to avoid spending a day in court and paying the £2,500 even if they are innocent.
A spokesman for Amazon said: “We’re looking into this with our delivery service provider.” Matthew said the council had told him to call a company called Kingdom to discuss his case. When approached, Kingdom said: “We welcome action being taken to reduce fly-tipping and littering in these communities. We will always look into any instances where people say they have been unfairly fined.”
The Mirror has contacted Dartford Council for comment.
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