Luton - Littering fine

[balixonline]

Afternoon the learned ones, 

My wife and 3-year-old son were visiting the Luton city centre, outside the shopping centre, my son was eating a sandwich when a pigeon tried to snack along. a bit of a sandwich was left and my wife didn't want him to eat the rest so they then left the pigeon to eat who was just nearby. 

about a minute later, two men appeared and told her that you were caught littering on camera (not sure if this is true). She said firstly it wasn't her but her son who threw the rest of the sandwich but anyway, she stupidly shared her details with them and was issued an FPN of £500 (reduced to £75 if paid within 10 days).

she then phoned me and I told her that she should not have given them the details but it was too late. 

she sent me a copy of the FPN and when I logged to the council website, it suggested the offence as follows; you were seen to drop, throw down or otherwise deposit food and leave it.

clearly, this was not the case.  I wonder if I should challenge it, if so, any suggested text for me to challenge the FPN please?

Peace.

[Homer67]

Is it from the local authority or a private company?

Edited October 27, 2023 by Homer67
typo

[balixonline]

I believe it is from a private company that is working in partnership with the local authority, the website is www.noticepayments.co.uk/fpnrep/luton or email [email protected]. 

actually have just phoned them and they confirmed they are a third party (private company) who works in partnership with local authorities. 

Edited October 27, 2023 by balixonline

[dx100uk]

if its a fpn and has the councils name on it then theres not a alot you can do.

she was the responsible adult for the actions of the underage child. 

[balixonline]

I agree that she was the responsible adult for the action of an underage child but I believe there must be consideration of principles of fairness and proportionality.

especially when there was no intent to litter, and an unintentional act by a three-year-old should not be treated as a punishable offence when it was sheer out of a child's frustration that a pigeon tried to snatch his sandwich.

I have uploaded a copy of FPN (removed personal details of course) if any of you confirm whether it is worth writing to them requesting evidence of offence (which should clarify too that the offence was not committed etc) or could I submit a representation?

FPN.pdf

 

it may be silly but the timing on the FPN is incorrect, the FPN suggested 9.58 whereas the actual time was much after 11 a.m.