Section 257 of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 is an evidentiary provision that facilitates proof of causation by deeming the occupier to have caused pollution, but it does not alter the legal elements of a s 120 offence or displace the obligation to particularise the specific act of pollution alleged. A prosecutor relying on s 257 must still identify and prove the particular act of pollution and cannot rely on the section to avoid providing essential particulars. A summons that maintains an unparticularised s 257-based manner of contravention as a strict alternative to a particularised manner of contravention is bad for duplicity.
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