Roy Marsh, 86, was visiting Lincolnshire, England, earlier this year when a gust of wind blew a large reed into his mouth. He says he coughed it up and spat it out — and moments later, two enforcement officers approached him.
“As I was sitting there, a gale blew a big reed into my mouth,” Marsh recalled to the BBC, referring to the plant from the grass family. “I spat it out, and just as I got up to walk away, two [enforcement officers] came up to me.”
Marsh said one officer told him they had seen him spitting on the ground. He responded by calling the local enforcer a “silly boy,” adding later that he felt the whole situation was excessive.
“It was all unnecessary and all out of proportion,” Marsh said, per the BBC.
Marsh was initially issued a fine of $334.50. After an appeal, the penalty was reduced to $200.70, which he paid.
Adrian Findley, a county councillor who represents Reform on Lincolnshire County Council, told the BBC he has heard many similar complaints from people in the area. He argued that officers should use more judgment in cases that appear accidental.
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“[Enforcement officers] are taking it too far,” he told the outlet. “There needs to be discretion about how they [enforcement officers] issue fines.” He added that if something looks like a genuine accident, people should be given a chance to apologize and deal with it appropriately.
East Lindsey District Council (ELDC) told the BBC, however, that enforcement officers “only approach individuals who have been seen committing environmental crime offenses.” The council added that enforcement actions are monitored closely and said patrols are not aimed at any specific group and are “not discriminatory.”
Marsh’s daughter, Jane Marsh Fitzpatrick, also described the incident in a Facebook post, saying her father has walking difficulties but tries to walk daily around a boating lake. She wrote that he inhaled a small leaf that caused him to choke.
“Dad has severe asthma and a heart condition, [but] he managed to cough up the leaf and spit it out. (Just the leaf),” Fitzpatrick wrote.
