A Perth man has been fined over $3,500 after letting his backyard swimming pool become horribly infested with mosquitoes, potentially risking the health of everyone else in the community.
David Noel Fuller of Currambine was found guilty of a very rare charge from the City of Joondalup, who successfully argued he “did not keep premises free of water that was liable to become the breeding place of mosquitoes.”
He was ordered to pay $2700 in fines and $933 in costs.
The City said it received a complaint in September last year that swarms of mozzies were emanating from Fuller’s pool. An investigator popped around to discover the water in desperate need of treatment.
Fuller did not get rid of the manky breeding ground. The pool was inspected again in February this year, when officer discovered the water had actually turned black.
In a statement obtained by the ABC, Joondalup Council chief executive Garry Hunt reminded everyone that mozzies have the capacity to carry diseases like Ross River Virus – and look, harbouring a pool full of mosquito larvae probably isn’t the best way to avoid propagating nasty illnesses.
Oh, one more thing: Fuller was also fined another $2400 last year for not having a fence around that bad boy, but we guess the mozzies would have kept anyone from actually getting near it.
