A serial fly-tipper has been prosecuted for a second time following a string of offences in Longsight.
Illie Costel Baltatu (53) of Attwood Street, Longsight pleaded guilty to three fly-tipping offences and received an 18-week custodial sentence, suspended for 12 months at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on December 13.
He was also ordered to undertake 200 hours unpaid work for each offence, and was handed an 18-month driving ban and made to surrender two vehicles used to dump rubbish in the Longsight area. He must pay £2,696 in costs and surcharges.
Baltatu’s offending was discovered in September 2022 when officers found a large amount of waste dumped in an alleyway on Mountbatten Street, Longsight, (pictured) which was causing disruption and access issues for residents.
The rubbish was investigated and Manchester City Council officers found evidence that traced back to a nearby resident.
The resident confirmed to council officers that Mr Baltatu had been employed by them to remove waste from their property following renovations and they had paid him £1,800 to dispose of it appropriately. Instead, the waste was found dumped in a nearby alleyway.
He was invited to discuss the allegations at the council offices, however, he left before questioning started.
In June 2023, a local resident observed three men, one of whom was Mr Baltatu, remove a large amount of waste from two Mercedes vans parked on Odette Street, Longsight, before proceeding to dump it in an adjacent alleyway.
The items included mattresses, bags and furniture. It was later discovered that Mr Baltatu, who lived nearby to where fly-tip took place, was found to be the registered keeper of both vehicles involved.
The council’s Environmental Crimes Team wrote to Mr Baltatu on several occasions to invite him to attend a recorded interview to discuss the allegations, but he failed to respond.
On a third occasion, three men were witnessed unloading two fridges from a car and leaving them in the alleyway behind Mountbatten Street, Longsight. Mr Baltatu was found to be the owner of the vehicle – a white Ford transit van.
He was questioned under caution in respect of this incident and confirmed he was the owner of the vehicle. He denied fly-tipping the fridges but confessed he was driving the van at the time the offence was carried out.
The court head that Mr Baltatu had previously been prosecuted for fly-tipping back in October 2019, when he was ordered to undertake unpaid work following conviction.
Councillor Lee-Ann Igbon said: “The recent prosecution of Mr Ilie Costel Baltatu shows that we do not tolerate criminal behaviour that harms our environment and causes distress to residents who deserve to live in safe and clean areas in our city.
“Mr Baltatu’s is a repeat offender of fly-tipping in the Longsight area and his guilty verdict is a testament to the hard work of our Environmental Crimes Team who take this work very seriously in bringing perpetrators to justice.
“Fly-tipping remains a selfish and disgusting crime that we are committed to stamping out in communities and I hope this case serves as a deterrent to others who are considering committing this heinous crime.”
