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Men fined for damage to protected tree

Friday 19th of March 2010

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Two men convicted of damaging a tree protected by a Tree Preservation Order have had to pay more than £1,000 each in fines and costs.

Tayfun Cinar, of Winchester Road, Alton, and Mark Vincent, of Vindomis Close, Holybourne, pleaded guilty to their parts in building work which caused extensive, and likely fatal, damage to a protected lime tree.

The tree was damaged when Vincent dug a water pipe trench as part of an extension being built on Cinar's home in March 2009.

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The result was significant damage to the roots of one of the lime trees covered by the TPO. Some of the severed roots were up to 100mm in diameter and it was estimated that approximately 40 per cent of the tree's root system was lost. It is now expected to die over the next three to five years.

In Aldershot Magistrates Court on 3 March 2010 Cinar pleaded guilty to causing or permitting wilful damage to a tree subject to a Tree Preservation Order. The court heard that Cinar instructed Vincent to dig the trench. Cinar told the court he had not intended to damage the lime but Magistrates said he knew about the TPO and should have protected the trees.

On 17 March 2010 at Aldershot Magistrates Court Vincent also pleaded guilty to the wilful damage of the lime tree. In mitigation Vincent said he did not know the tree was protected and had tried to minimise the damage by routing the trench around the tree. Magistrates told him he was a professional and should have carried out the proper checks.

Both men were fined £750 and ordered to pay £250 costs and a £15 victim support charge.

Stewart Garside, EHDC's Arboricultural Officer, said: "The district council has a duty placed upon it to protect important trees within its area in order to ensure the amenity they provide is retained for the enjoyment of the public at large. 

"East Hampshire District Council takes this duty very seriously and will seek to prosecute anybody who deliberately flouts or ignores the law. From the size of the fines in these cases it can be seen that the courts take the offence equally seriously. 

"The advice is clear. If you have any doubt as to whether the work you are carrying out will cause damage to a protected tree it is best to check with the district council first. If you fail to do this and just go ahead regardless, you could end up with a heavy fine and a criminal record."