Tipper saw no sign of trouble

ILLEGAL: the fly-tipping - directly under the no tipping sign

A FORMER refugee said he ditched a sofa in an Oldham alleyway — directly under a “no fly-tipping” sign, because he didn’t realise it was illegal to dump old furniture in the street.

Elmy Soumah left the rubbish, including a settee and cardboard boxes, at the end of Tynwald Street, Clarksfield - but the 30 year old said he believed it was okay to leave it.

“I found the sofa outside on the street when I came to this country and I put it in my house,” he said.

“I didn’t realise it was illegal to leave it outside, as I had found it outside. It was my first sofa.

“I had a new one so I put the old one outside so someone who needed it could take it and use it.”

He said he didn’t see the sign and had put the unwanted items out on bin collection day.

Ruth Crimmins, prosecuting for Oldham Council, said: “It was a large amount of rubbish. The photographs speak for themselves.”

Soumah, who came here over four years ago as a Guinean refugee, pleaded guilty at Oldham Magistrates’ Court yesterday. He was ordered to do 60 hours of community work and pay costs of £920.