Tipperary householder always left bin outside his house to prevent him from being killed

A man brought before Clonmel  District Court for a breach of waste management bye-laws said he left a bin permanently outside his front door to prevent his death.

Fachtna Roe, 10 Morton Street, Clonmel, told Judge Brian O’Shea that he left the bin outside his house all of the time because vehicles mounted the footpath outside his front door to get up the street.

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He told the court that the bin was there to stop him from being killed.
The court heard that a complaint had been made about the bin by the HSE, as an ambulance/bus driver was finding his pathway up the street blocked by the bin.

The court was told that the man had a black and a green bin that he put out on their designated collection days.
He also left out a green wheely bin outside his door permanently that a builder had given him, which was for his own protection from traffic.

The case against Fachtna Roe was brought by Tipperary County Council.
After hearing the evidence, Judge Brian O’Shea dismissed the charge against Fachtna Roe.

Judge O’Shea said the item used by the defendant to protect himself as he walked out his front door just happened to be a wheely bin, it was used for another purpose other than waste collection and the bye-laws did not prevent that.

The item used by Fachtna Roe happened to be a wheely bin, it could have been a barrel painted red or white that the defendant used, and such an item was not prevented by the bye-laws.
Tipperary County Council Environmental Enforcement Officer Francis Keogh told the court that a complaint was received on June 11, 2024 about bins being left outside 10 Morton Street.

He spoke to the complainant, who was driving elderly people in an ambulance down a narrow street and had to try and get passed bins that were left outside on a footpath. The driver said he could not manoeuvre around them properly. He said the bins were always on the footpath.

Francis Keogh said he called some days later to the defendant and informed him that the bins outside his house were causing an obstruction. He informed Fachtna Roe that he was in breach of the bye-laws and he handed him a copy of the bye-laws. The defendant refused to take a copy of the bye-laws. In August 2024 a registered letter sent to Fachtna Roe was refused and returned to Tipperary County Council.

Frances Keogh said that following an inspection on a collection day in November 20 he observed both bins on the public footpath and he issued a fixed penalty notice on November 29, 2024. The penalty notice was not paid and it was still outstanding.

Francis Keogh, when asked by Aidan Leahy, Solicitor for the defendant, agreed that because of the nature of the street, the driver of the ambulance would have to mount the footpath to get up the road.
Judge O’Shea, after asking questions of Francis Keogh, said that on the day of the inspection, the black bin was permitted on that day, but it was not a designated day for the collection of a green bin, so the bottom line was that the green bin required explanation.

Fachtna Roe said that on the day of the inspection, a green and a black bin were on the footpath. It was a collection day for the black bin but not the green bin.
He told Judge O’Shea that he had a green bin out on the street to protect him from being killed when he steps out of his front door.

Fachtna Roe said the driver who made the complaint drove up the street five or six times a day, and he mounts the footpath to get up the street. The driver, he said, was not respectful or accommodating to the people living on the street.
Fachtna Roe said he had asked Tipperary County Council to erect a bollard, or they could use any number of creative solutions to address the problem.

PROTECTION
He told the court that when he opens his front door, he is directly onto the street, which was a one-way street.
He said the street had not been widened, and there was a health centre on the same road that the driver brought patients to.
Fachtna Roe said the green bin that was out on the day was always out on the footpath for his protection. It was given to him by a builder, and he uses it as a speed bump.

Judge O’Shea recalled Francis Keogh to the witness box. Keogh said he took pictures of a black and a green bin outside the house and a second green bin.

Shane Reynolds, solicitor for Tipperary County Council, said bins were only allowed to be placed outside the house on designated days for the green and black bins. The green bin/container was always there, and it should not be there.
Aidan Leahy, Solicitor for the defendant, said his client was putting out his black bin and green bin on the designated days for collection and was leaving out a third green bin for his own protection.

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Judge O’Shea said he could not see that the third bin/container that was being left out came within the legislation.
There was, said Judge O’Shea, nothing to establish if there was anything in the bin; it just happened to be a green wheely bin that the man was leaving outside his house for his own protection. It was not authorised, but it was being used for another purpose, and the bye-laws did not prevent that.