Hartlepool woman's £356 court bill after she is caught dropping cigarette to the ground

Leanne King was taken to court by Hartlepool Borough Council after committing the littering offence in Caroline Street, Hartlepool, earlier this year.

King, 46, who lives in the town’s Alston Street, off Elwick Road, was convicted under section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act of 1990 when the case was heard in her absence at Teesside Magistrates’ Court, in Middlesbrough, earlier this month.

The court was told how she breached the act when she “threw down, dropped or otherwise deposited” the cigarette end to the ground “and left it there” on March 13.

King was ordered by magistrates to pay a £220 fine, £34 victim surcharge and £100 prosecution costs.

The £354 sum must be paid in total by November 1.