Motorist is fined £150 for throwing apple from car

Motorist is fined £150 for throwing apple from car

3 October 2012

A MAN has been fined £150 for throwing an apple core out of the window of his car in Saintfield.

In what is believed to be one of the first prosecutions of its kind in Down District, Cyril Falls was convicted of littering as he drove along the Belfast Road on February 17.

He was spotted throwing the apple out of his car by a Down Council enforcement officer who took his registration number.

Falls, of Downshire Court, Bangor, contested the charge at Downpatrick Court on Monday but his argument that an apple core is not litter was rejected by the judge.

A prosecution lawyer told the court that litter is classified as “any refuse, filth, garbage or any offensive waste” that is placed “in the open air.”

Falls told the court that he threw the apple core out through the window, but did not think it was considered litter because it was biodegradable.

“While I was waiting on the road, I thought I’d flick it into the hedge,” he said, adding that he thought he was just “feeding the insects.”

“I just didn’t think that by throwing an apple core at the hedge, I’d have to go through court proceedings and everything else that has happened.”

Falls’ solicitor said that this case should never have come to court because “by no stretch of the imagination could an apple core be regarded as a defacement of the area.”