Michael Joseph McDonagh pled guilty to these offences between September 2022 and January 2024, leaving large piles of waste each time. The latest of these was deposited on private land, at a site where many loads had been previously deposited.
Buckinghamshire council’s waste enforcement team undertook several investigations and found evidence which linked McDonagh to each deposit. Evidence including bank details, a mobile phone number and vehicle registrations was gathered, and McDonagh was then questioned about all nine offences.
Joint operation
McDonagh was interviewed under caution on 3 March 2023 for the first eight offences following arrest by Thames Valley Police in a joint operation with Buckinghamshire Council. He was later interviewed on 16 April 2024, for a ninth matter, where a derelict piece of land had been occupied by an illegal encampment. This additional dumping took place after the first interview, following his release from police custody.
In all nine cases, the waste was found to have been brought into Buckinghamshire from outside the county. The incidents involved a vehicle the size of a Ford Transit tipper truck being used to dump several tonnes of waste at a time.
McDonagh initially entered a ‘not guilty’ plea at High Wycombe magistrates’ court, with the case then referred by magistrates to Aylesbury crown court, where McDonagh pleaded guilty to all nine charges on 18 February 2025.
On 1 May 2025, McDonagh was sentenced to 15 months immediate imprisonment with a 40% discount due to his early guilty plea.
Judge Recorder H Cohen found the offending “deliberate” and with prior knowledge of the law (due to a previous conviction for fly-tipping). The judge described the offending as “anti-social, unpleasant and harmful to communities”, and said that the only appropriate penalty was immediate imprisonment.
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