Scrap dealer hit with £5k bill in landmark case
A scrap metal dealer who failed to keep proper records has been hit with a bill of more than £5,000 in one of the first prosecutions of its kind in the country.
Council officers visited Daniel Parnum's premises in Progress Drive, Cannock, following a tip-off from Staffordshire Police concerning metal cabling stolen from the works upgrade on the M6.
A quantity of copper cabling was found on site and Parnum could not provide any records or paperwork to verify its origin.
He was convicted of failing to keep any records relating to the receipt of the metal cabling or of its disposal and failing to provide the name and address of the supplier.
Parnum, from Walsall, was fined £4,750 by Cannock Magistrates Court and ordered to pay £520 prosecution costs. He denied the charges.
The court heard that as a licensed scrap metal dealer, Parnum was aware of the strict record-keeping required by the authorities, which were made clear in letters to him in 2013 and 2014.
Cannock Chase Council said it was one of the first authorities in the UK to successfully prosecute someone under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013.
