Cannock Magistrates' Court Sentencing Results

Megan Skelding, an off-duty British Transport Police officer, was driving a vehicle in Staffordshire at about 2am on August 7, 2026 when it collided with a parked, unoccupied vehicle, causing damage to both vehicles. Officers attended and she failed a roadside breath test. Her lowest breathalyser reading was 52 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, above the legal limit of 35 microgrammes. She was arrested and later pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol.

Lee Mills dumped waste on Nether Lane in Burntwood in June 2024, blocking the road. The dumped material included asbestos. Environmental health officers traced the waste to four addresses and found that Mills had been paid to dispose of waste from each, falsely claiming to be a registered waste carrier and licensed scrap metal dealer. Officers seized his vehicle, which was loaded with more waste and scrap metal at the time.

Tom Rice kept dogs in filthy conditions at a property in Lichfield. Council officers attended with a veterinary surgeon and found cages covered in faeces, with mouse droppings in and around them, dog faeces in a box on the kitchen worktop and across several downstairs rooms, and no access to water. Two dogs were safely removed and taken to kennels.

Staffordshire County Council’s Trading Standards animal health officers visited the holding used by Belfield at Wetley Rocks in September 2020, finding three sheep in poor bodily condition, one suffering from flystrike, others with abnormal udders including one with a black cable tie fastened around it. Other sheep showed signs of lameness despite prior warning in 2019. Belfield failed to report sheep movements from a local livestock market or keep an annual inventory.

Brian Peasley traded as BP Cars, a taxi operator licensed by Lichfield District Council. An investigation found that BP Cars knowingly passed jobs to an unlicensed driver after officers stopped an uninsured vehicle carrying a vulnerable passenger in Burntwood in January 2024. The passenger and their carer had been duped into believing they were using a genuine taxi. Peasley pleaded guilty at Cannock Magistrates Court.

In January 2024, Lichfield District Council officers stopped a vehicle in Burntwood after seeing Craig Matthews drop off passengers. A vulnerable passenger in the car and their carer had been duped into believing they were using a genuine taxi, but the vehicle was uninsured and neither the car nor Matthews held a taxi licence. An investigation found that BP Cars, a council-licensed operator, had knowingly passed jobs to Matthews. He pleaded guilty at Cannock Magistrates Court.

Lauren Rice kept dogs in filthy conditions at a property in Lichfield. Council officers attended with a veterinary surgeon and found cages covered in faeces, with mouse droppings in and around them, dog faeces in a box on the kitchen worktop and across several downstairs rooms, and no access to water. Two dogs were safely removed and taken to kennels.