A WOMAN who faced court over allegedly throwing a cigarette butt onto a street told of her relief yesterday when she was acquitted by magistrates.

Mother-of-four Claire Bailey, 39, of Redwood Place, Ebbw Vale, appeared before Abergavenny Magistrates’ Court over a charge related to dropping the cigarette end outside the New Look store in Ebbw Vale last year.

It is believed the trial was the first contested prosecution brought in relation to an anti-littering operation, run by a private company with Blaenau Gwent council.

Chairman of the bench the Rev Michael Phillips said the case was “not proved beyond a reasonable doubt”.

Ms Bailey, who represented herself, had pleaded not guilty to an offence of throwing down, leaving or otherwise depositing litter in Bethcar Street, Ebbw Vale.

Margaret Liggins, who at the time was an enforcement officer for the private company XFOR, told the court that on October 21, 2011 she saw Ms Bailey take a drag from a cigarette and throw it to the floor.

She said after Ms Bailey came out of New Look with a group of others, she was abusive and refused to take a fixed penalty notice.

They later attempted to take the notice to her home but after her colleague left it there, Ms Bailey screwed it up and threw it away, the court was told.

Giving evidence, Ms Bailey denied she had a regular cigarette and insisted she’d been smoking a hand-rolled one, which she had extinguished and put in her back pocket.

Ms Bailey admitted her language in the town centre was “atrocious” but denied being abusive at home. She said: “I’m relieved now that the truth has come out.”

She said she didn’t think the council should stop trying to catch people dropping litter.

But she added: “They should get proof before they go accusing people.”

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Ruling may set trend

BLAENAU Gwent Council’s use of a private company to crack down on litter louts has been controversial.

Many people have complained about being fined for what they see as relatively trivial offences.

Now a woman, accused of dropping a cigarette butt in the street, has been acquitted by magistrates after insisting on taking the case to court.

Readers can make up their own minds about the rights and wrongs of the case – but its outcome raises questions about the future of Blaenau Gwent’s anti-litter crusade.

In essence, Claire Bailey was found not guilty because the case boiled down to her word against that of the enforcement officer who had attempted to issue her with a fine for littering.

There was no actual evidence and magistrates therefore decided the case had not been proved beyond reasonable doubt.

We suspect this ruling will encourage many others accused of dropping litter to contest their prosecutions in court. Enforcement officers will now clearly have to provide the courts with irrefutable evidence.

We are not sure how they will do so unless they photograph or video alleged offenders.

This newspaper is fully supportive of measures that reduce littering. Too many people drop rubbish without a second thought.

But it would appear that making allegations stand up in court will be an expensive business from now on.