A “heart-breaking” littering fine for an 86-year-old grandfather who says he spat out a leaf which blew into his mouth is a “total disgrace”, his daughter has said.
Roy Marsh was fined by enforcement officers in February while walking around a boating lake in Skegness, Lincolnshire.
His daughter Jane Fitzpatrick said her father, who has walking difficulties, a heart condition and severe asthma, was targeted after a small leaf blew into his mouth and he spat it out.
He was fined £250 by officers from East Lindsey District Council who saw the incident and confronted him.
The fine was later reduced to £150.
Ms Fitzpatrick described her father as a sweet old guy who has lived in Skegness all his life.
She said: “He wouldn’t hurt a fly, and these buggers are picking on the elderly, and it’s just heart-breaking.“
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She added: “My dad joked with them at first and said ‘was I going too fast on my wheels, was I speeding?’, and then the guy said ‘No, you spat’.”
“He could have said ‘no, I’m not giving you my details’, but because he was old, and these guys are saying ‘we’re enforcing the law and blah blah, blah’, dad paid up – he quite literally coughed up.”
Ms Fitzpatrick said the incident had shaken her father who would not go on his walk for a while because he was so upset by the confrontation.
Her father, who has two grandchildren and lives with his wife Anne, asked her to put something on Facebook to express their outrage
Ms Fitzpatrick wrote in her post: “These officers are unreasonably harassing and terrorising older people and it is a total disgrace!! How can we stop them?”.
She said she has been amazed to see her message go round the world.
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She is now hoping that the council will return his fine money given the public outrage over the incident.
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Martin Foster, portfolio holder for operational services at East Lindsey District Council, said: “While we can’t go into circumstances of individual cases, enforcement officers working on behalf of the council will only approach individuals who have been seen committing environmental crime offences.
“This includes spitting as a form of littering.
“The council closely monitors data on enforcement actions, including those relating to such things as littering, fly-tipping and dog -related offences.”
