Man convicted for dumping hundreds of kilograms of duck pieces in council bins

 20 July 2018

PHOTO: Duck pieces found in a public bin in Himeji Gardens in Adelaide's southern parklands. (Supplied: Adelaide City Council)

A man has been convicted of disposing of hundreds of kilograms of duck meat in an Adelaide park known for its ducks.

The Environment, Resources and Development Court has fined Huaqi Li $5,600 over four counts of using a vehicle to dispose of litter.

PHOTO: A duck in Adelaide's Himeji Gardens. The Japanese-style Himeji Gardens, on South Terrace, are filled with fish, ducks and turtles. (ABC Open: Rio Jones)

He will also have to pay Adelaide City Council's prosecution costs of $900 and $640 in victims of crime levies.

A judge found Li, who owns a takeaway shop called Jue Wei selling boiled duck necks in Adelaide's Chinatown, disposed of four 50 litre drums of duck pieces in public bins in the Himeji Gardens in September and October last year.

The Japanese-style Himeji Gardens, on South Terrace, are filled with fish, ducks and turtles.

Council staff set up CCTV camera after reports of large amounts of poultry being dumped in the garden's bins.

On four separate dates, security camera footage showed a black Holden station wagon registered to Li parking in South Terrace next to the bins.

A man and a woman then got out of the car, approached the bins, emptied a large tub into the bins and covered it with blue plastic.

The bins had signs on them saying: "The bin is for users of this public area only. Not for household or business waste disposal."

Li was registered with the council as the owner of the Jue Wei business, which only displays Chinese signage.

Li ducked responsibility for waste costs: judge

At one hearing earlier this month, Li claimed the poultry was from a party celebrating his graduation from a Masters of Accounting and Finance from the University of Adelaide.

At a second hearing, he said he had loaned the car to a friend to drive around Australia.

Judge Susanne Cole rejected Li's excuses.

"All of the offences involve the use of council facilities to dispose of large quantities of food waste without cost to the person or entity generating that waste," Judge Cole wrote in her decision.

PHOTO: Duck pieces which have been dumped in a skip bin in Adelaide. (Supplied: Adelaide City Council)

"This is an unacceptable transfer of responsibility for cost from the person or entity having the benefit of whatever process generated the waste to the ratepayers of the council.

"In addition, the disposal of the poultry pieces in the park bin had the potential to create obnoxious conditions for users of the Himeji Gardens."

The maximum penalty Li could have received was a $120,000 fine or up to two years in jail.

He told the court he intended to go back to China after judgment was handed down.

He could not be contacted.