Woman finds herself in court 11 years after dropping Greggs paper bag on street

A woman has been taken to court for dropping a Greggs paper bag on the street more than 10 years after the incident.

Grace Firth, 32, appeared in court following the incident, which took place in 2009.

Magistrates questioned whether the date of the offence was a mistake because of how long ago it happened, according to the BBC.

It took so long to be resolved because Ms Firth, from Greater Manchester, claimed she knew nothing about the original prosecution.

Ms Firth had been convicted in her absence in August 2009, fined £175 and was also ordered to pay £180 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

But Stockport Magistrates' Court heard that Ms Frith only learned of the incident a few weeks ago.

Ms Firth was sent a letter on 8 December 2019 regarding an "historical debt". She claimed to have never received any letters before then, because they were sent to her mum's house.

"Any mail for me was returned to sender or thrown away," she told the court.

On Tuesday, magistrates accepted the explanation and cancelled the original £180 costs order. Her fine was cut to £40 plus the £15 victim surcharge.

A judge told her: "Thank you for being so honest and for turning up."