A homeowner in the UK was sentenced at crown court more than a decade after having a 100-year-old lime tree removed from her back garden. Claire Rands, of Mons Close in Allt-yr-Yn, Wales, said that she was unaware of any wrongdoing at the time, having hired a tree surgeon to carry out the work due to concerns about nearby grass fires.
A tree surgeon came to her house in Newport that she shared with her husband Damon Rands and their four children. She said that in the early 2010s, several serious grass fires had occurred on the common land behind the homes at Mons Close, prompting fears that the tree could become a fire hazard. The incident comes after three people were ordered to pay huge sums for tree felling in Swansea and Cardiff earlier this year.
The Rands family appeared in articles in the South Wales Argus and the Telegraph in 2012, the same year they had the tree removed, about how their tree had ended up on fire in the summer months after alleged deliberate grass fires had got out of control, reports Wales Online.
Several neighbours also raised concerns about the grass fires, but the Rands family couldn’t get permission to remove the tree because their requests to lift the Tree Preservation Order (TPO) were denied. A TPO legally prohibits its removal without council permission—even on private property
The couple was shocked to receive a letter from Newport City Council after 10 years informing them they would be prosecuted for causing or permitting the destruction of a tree protected by a TPO. Damon Rands was later cleared of any wrongdoing while Claire Rands was found guilty after a trial at Newport Magistrates’ Court.
The council said one of its ecologists noticed the missing tree while walking in the area, long after it had been cut down. Experts hired by the council believed removing the lime tree increased the value of the £500,000 home by at least £50,000
On Friday, after a long legal battle over the wording of the law on Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs), which the council said made things more complicated than necessary, Claire Rands lost her appeal against the conviction and was sentenced later that day by Judge Celia Hughes. Ms Rands was ordered to pay £100,000 in prosecution costs on top of a £16,000 fine.
Claire Rands’ lawyer, Rhys Rosser, argued in court that she shouldn’t be convicted for “causing or permitting a tree to be removed” because that specific law applies in England, not in Wales.
Tim Straker, representing Newport Council alongside Elizabeth Nicholls, said: “There is no dispute that Rands engaged somebody and secured the large lime tree of considerable amenity value to be removed from her garden, to use the vernacular, lock stock and barrel. It is said that in Wales you cannot be guilty of an offence of causing or permitting the destruction of a tree protected by a TPO. But it is unsatisfactory that someone could order a protected tree to be cut down on their land but then run free from any responsibility.”
Judge Hughes agreed, concluding before sentencing: “It would be contrary to common sense that a householder could be prosecuted for a more minor offence when they are the person who directed the tree to be removed in the first place.”
Judge Hughes said she would therefore be sentencing the defendant on the basis she “caused or permitted” the destruction of the lime tree.
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