Fine after oak trees felled on Staveley Road in Nab Wood

Khalil Hussain now faces paying out more than £7,000 in the prosecution brought by Bradford Council.

The amount incorporates a fine of £2,841, a £1,136 surcharge, and court costs of £3,059.

The case returned to Bradford Magistrates’ Court after the council applied to reopen the matter so that the original fine of £1,666 – amounting to £277 for each protected tree felled – could be re-calculated as it was deemed too low.

Chair of Magistrates Mrs Goode allowed the hearing to go ahead “in the interests of justice” as the bench had previously made an incorrect assumption relating to the level of the fine.

She said: “We made a mistake.”

Khalil Hussain (Image: Newsquest)

The court heard that between July 21, 2021, and March 3, 2023, six large oaks that were protected by Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) were removed from the grounds of 11 Staveley Road in Nab Wood, an area notable for its large, tree-lined properties.

Mr Hussain, 67, of Coniston Grove, Heaton, Bradford, who bought the £770,000 property for his son, had claimed that he did not know TPOs were in place on the oaks when they were felled.

He bought the property shortly before the first tree was cut down.

Tree Preservation Orders protect trees from being felled or any other major works, and permission is needed from local councils to carry out any work to protected trees.

Prosecuting on behalf of the council, Joanne Gleeson said the value of the 100-year-old copse was £123,142, that five trees were initially felled in 2021, but then a sixth and final tree was cut down in 2023 when Mr Hussain “knew perfectly well” that it and the other oaks had been under a Tree Protection Order.

She described the act of cutting down the trees as “wilful destruction” and not merely damage caused by pruning or trimming.

11 Staveley Road in 2008 (Image: Google)

She described the harm to the surrounding environment as “very high” and that magistrates had the power to issue an unlimited fine, which would take into consideration the level of harm caused to the area by the loss of the trees.

She said Mr Hussain had admitted being on site when the trees were cut down and that he had spent £1,800 to have them felled. She said he had engaged specialists to do the work.

She said: “This is a wooded area. It is called Nab Wood for a reason. TPOs are there to protect the amenity of the area.”

The court heard that the six mature oaks had been replaced by conifers, of which Ms Gleeson said: “I don’t think anybody will be around to see them in a hundred years. The amenity of the area is not going to get any value from that.”

Jabran Hussain, defending, described his client as “effectively the fall guy” as, although he owned the house, the tree felling had been carried out by his son.

He said Mr Hussain had seen no financial benefit from the work and denied there was any intention to build on the land where the trees had been.

He said: “The trees that were cut down were hanging over the driveway. This is not the corner of a plot that you can bulldoze to create extra land [for housing] unless you are going to build a house in the middle of your driveway.”

He accepted the trees had provided a visual amenity but said they were not visible from the roadside.

He said the magistrates’ original ruling was “the correct and proportionate outcome” and that there had been “no flagrant disregard” for the law.

He said: “How you arrived at the decision may have been wrong, but the decision was not wrong.”

He previously said his client, a retired man with an unblemished record, had suffered “sleepless nights” due to the court case, which had resulted in first conviction.

At the previous hearing he said: “He never thought he would appear in court at this stage of his life.”

The court ordered Khalil Hussain to pay a total of £7,036 at £500 a month with the amount to be recouped within 12 months.