A man returned seven bags of dumped rubbish to a fly-tipper’s doorstep after sifting through CCTV.
Dean Gauci had grown angry that the block of flats he manages in Cardiff was being repeatedly targeted by waste offenders.
Using amateur detective skills, he looked through hours of CCTV recordings before finding the moment the rubbish was left – 09:00 BST on 12 June.
By speaking to neighbours and showing them the footage, he was able to quickly establish the identity of the offender, and the fact that he lived close by.
Dean, 38, carried the sacks – which were filled with household waste – to the nearby property and piled them outside before ringing the doorbell.
The culprit answered and was told he had been caught red-handed on CCTV, before responding with “I was going to move this, sorry mate”, according to Dean.
As an Airbnb maintenance worker in Wales’ capital, the incident had been the final straw for Dean, after dealing with dozens of cases over the past year.
“People fly-tip here all the time – this is probably the 30th or 40th time people have done it,” he added.
Because of this, he was determined to track down the person who had left the waste on this occasion.
He said: “I could have taken that rubbish and charged the landlord [of the flats] to dispose of it, but I wanted to do the right thing and catch them.”
