Dacorum Borough Council defends controversial urine policy after Winslow man is fined for "littering"

Dacorum Borough Council has defended the prosecution of two individuals allegedly caught peeing in the woods, despite high profile lawyers questioning its legality.

A man from Winslow was fined £88 for urinating in the wild, while another man was taken to court for peeing outdoors.

It has been revealed by The Guardian that a second individual had his penalty fee rescinded, after it was argued that council officials had not actually witnessed him peeing.

Dacorum Borough Council claimed both men who allegedly urinated in the woods were littering under its interpretation of the law. A spokesperson for the authority told The Guardian that residents have raised concerns about people relieving themselves by busy laybys. And that by sending officers to these roads, they are making the spaces more pleasant for all residents.

A Freedom of Information request obtained by a barrister and re-published by The Guardian found that the council is prosecuting residents under section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act.

High profile lawyer, Jolyon Maugham, the director of the Good Law Project, told the newspaper he did not think these cases constituted littering.

He said: “I think the legal advice is probably wrong – and also doesn’t cover the council’s position. So if I rake up all my leaves and dump them in the street I am littering but if I drive them to a forest I am not. So the notion of ‘litter’ is context-specific. So even if – which is very probably wrong but not a bananas contention – weeing in the street is littering, I certainly don’t think weeing in the woods is littering.”

Another well-known lawyer, known as ‘Mr Loophole’, Nick Freeman, also pointed to a different clause of the Environmental Act, which appeared to contradict the council’s interpretation. He told the BBC Section 98’s definition of litter is the one more widely accepted by the public.

Michael Mason, from Winslow, was prosecuted for peeing by a layby on the A41 near King's Langley. He told the BBC: "I made sure nobody could see me and was very, very discreet."

His fine was later rescinded after the Bucks man sent the council a medical letter, which he paid £30 for, from his GP explaining his weakened prostate.

Dacorum Borough Council, which is reportedly sending enforcement officers to laybys to catch people in the act, is citing the following part of the Environmental Act: "If any person throws down, drops or otherwise deposits in, into or from any place to which this section applies, and leaves, any thing whatsoever in such circumstances as to cause, or contribute to, or tend to lead to, the defacement by litter of any place to which this section applies."

In its response to The Guardian the authority said: “The council does acknowledge that each case has to be assessed on its own merits, taking account of the specific location and any particular characteristics of the individual involved, and there is a right of representation for individuals to submit representations which will be duly considered. This process has resulted in fixed penalty notices being rescinded in specific circumstances.”