Ray Weatherburn was slapped with a £100 fixed penalty notice for littering a cigarette in Nottingham – even though he was having breakfast in France at the time
Ray Weatherburn was on holiday with his wife in France at the time(Image: Ray Weatherburn)
A retired teacher has been fined £100 for dropping a cigarette on the street in the UK – while he was enjoying his breakfast in France.
Stretching his arm out of a silver Vauxhall Corsa on an overcast late summer’s morning, a motorist tossed a cigarette butt onto the weathered asphalt of a Clifton street. Over 250 miles, including the English Channel, lay between Ray Weatherburn and the location of the incident – yet he has been fined.
To make matters worse, his vehicle was also “immobilised” at his residence in Northumberland – 200 miles in the opposite direction, reports Nottinghamshire Live.
Yet it was the 76 year old who received correspondence from Nottingham City Council, alleging he had been spotted discarding the cigarette butt in Farnborough Road on August 13.
“I’ve never smoked in my life,” said Mr Weatherburn, a former British champion 800m runner. “They issued me with a £100 fixed penalty notice. They had the correct registration number but my car was immobilised up in Northumberland at the time.”
The offence took place in Farnborough Road, Clifton(Image: Joseph Raynor/ Nottingham Post)
Mr Weatherburn, who resides in Berwick-upon-Tweed but owns a second property in Wollaton, was initially handed the fine on September 9.
A fortnight later, a second letter arrived at his home warning he could face court action over the unpaid penalty, but was addressed to a man he’d never encountered. This set off warning signals for the former geography teacher, who contacted the city council to enquire about the situation.
“It worried me about ID fraud as there was someone else linked to my address and car,” he said. After providing passport stamps and petrol receipts that demonstrated it was impossible for him to have committed the offence, the case was dismissed.
Yet a week later, he received a third letter asking him to participate in the Immediate Justice scheme, a programme where offenders undertake reparative community work instead of appearing in court.
The city council subsequently apologised for the “inconvenience” the mix-up had caused Mr Weatherburn and attributed the third letter to a technical error. Nevertheless, the authority has yet to provide an explanation for why he was initially fined. The sole possible theory Mr Weatherburn has received is that his car plates have been cloned, which he says was suggested by police.
“Nottingham City Council are absolutely appalling,” he said. “If someone said there was a big mistake I would appreciate that but no-one has offered an explanation. It’s very frustrating. I still don’t know if someone’s driving around with my number plate cloned. It’s all very, very confusing and I can’t get any explanation out of them. It causes sleepless nights and anxieties.”
Nottingham City Council said it does not comment on individual fixed penalty notice cases.