Director jailed after failing to pay waste crime fine

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has said that a former director of a waste company has been jailed for 364 days after failing to pay a £114,000 fine he was given last year for dumping illegal waste.

In August 2021, the Welsh regulator issued a statement explaining that Wenvoe Recycling was fined £114,000 after “illegally dumping” 10,000 tonnes of waste and “causing homes to flood”.

The statement explained that the company’s director, Anthony Gaughan admitted to depositing waste and operating a regulated facility without an environmental permit on behalf of himself and his company (see letsrecycle.com story). 

Time

According to a statement from the Welsh regulator today, Anthony Gaughan, the former director of the dissolved Wenvoe Recycling, was originally given three months to pay the fine after the sentencing in August 2021 under the proceeds of crime act.

NRW said this was extended for a further three months after “he was having difficulties getting the monies.” He was given a further extension and was expected to pay by February 2022. However, after failing to pay, NRW said he was sentenced to prison to serve the default sentence of 351 days.

NRW said the sentencing took place at Swansea Magistrates Court on 19 May 2022.

Incident

NRW said the cleanup of the operation cost the public purse £380,000.

The company dumped “thousands of tonnes of controlled waste” at Tunnel Side Yard in Quarry Road, Wenvoe in the Vale of Glamorgan despite not having an environmental permit to do so, NRW said. 

Following a tip-off from a member of the public in 2017, environmental crime officers from NRW visited the site in October 2017, and discovered lorries depositing large amounts of mixed construction waste at the site.

Mr Gaughan was warned that what he was doing was illegal and advised to cease all operations, but he “carried on and on a return visit in November 2017 the officers again advised him to stop”.

Two weeks later, the officers returned with police and were concerned at the amount of waste slipping down a slop at the perimeter of the yard.

By December 2017, nearby homes flooded as waste blocked the water channel and emergency work had to be carried out, with pumps installed to divert the water.