Illegal landfill operator has 1.2m in assets seized

And, as sentencing was carried out today, John Craxford and his company John Craxford Plant Hire Ltd was also ordered to pay £86,937 in fines and legal costs.

Mr Craxford had pleaded guilty to a string of offences committed at Yannon Lane landfill site at Kingkerswell in Devon – including the illegal burying of “massive volumes of unsuitable waste” as well as waste licence and pollution permit breaches since March 2003.

The case marks a major success for the Environment Agency in the South West, as well as its partner in the major investigation “Operation Cleansweep”, the Assets Recovery Agency.

The seizure of £1,194,638 million represents the largest ever made following an environmental conviction in this country. Judge Wassell said the company must make a payment of £300,000 by March 31 and the remaining balance will have to be paid by the end of July this year.

Mr Craxford, who was well-known on the international power boat racing circuit in the 1970s and 1980s, but has been keeping a low profile more recently, faces a five-year prison sentence if he does not pay up.

“Catalogue of offences”

Adrian Evans from the environmental crime team of the Environment Agency said: “The scale of illegal tipping at this site is the worst I have encountered. Our investigation revealed a catalogue of offences, committed over a period of several years. By working in partnership with the Assets Recovery Agency, we have been able to recover the money made from the illegal activity. I hope the case serves as a warning to others and demonstrates that environmental crime does not pay.”

The Agency's investigations included a surveillance operation that discovered “huge amounts” of wood, plastics, cardboard, electrical goods, carpet, garden waste and household waste being dumped at a site only supposed to accept 4,999 tonnes of mixed waste a year.

Large volumes of mixed waste were being delivered to the site's waste transfer station each day according to the investigating officers, delivered by local skip firms and building contractors. This waste was then buried at the end of each day.

In January 2007 alone, the site was shown to have taken over 5,000 cubic yards of mixed waste, for which it received over £47,000 in fees.

The Assets Recovery Agency investigated to what extent the defendants benefited from their activities. Using the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, they asked the court to confiscate assets equal to the value of the benefit gained.

Offences

John Craxford (Plant Hire) Ltd was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay £18,855 costs by Judge Wassall after pleading guilty to nine offences under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and Pollution Prevention & Control Regulations 2000.

The offences included:
• Burying large volumes of unsuitable waste in the landfill;
• Keeping controlled waste on land at Yannon Lane, in a manner likely to cause pollution of the environment;
• Making false statements in its application to obtain a PPC permit;
• Failure to provide accurate waste tonnage returns;
• Failing to provide improvement requirements required by the PPC permit;
• Failure to request transfer notes from waste carriers using the site;
• Exceeding its licensed limits in respect of the quantity of waste allowed in the waste transfer station.

Company director Mr Craxford, of Foredown Farm, Kingskerswell, Newton Abbot, Devon, was given a three-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £8,081 costs after pleading guilty to four offences under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and Pollution Prevention & Control Regulations 2000. These offences related to the part he played as a Director of the limited company in the commission of its offences.

He was warned by Judge Wassell that if he committed any offence within the three year period he would not only be sentenced for the new offence but also the offences before the court today.