A fly-tipper has been jailed for more than a year after driving over 25 miles to illegally dump a huge pile of bricks in a car park. James Atkins travelled miles to dump the building waste - that included mounds of brick rubble, soil and plastic - outside unsuspecting businesses.
Despite being disqualified from driving at the time, the 29-year-old used the cover of darkness to tip the rubble from his massive lorry in-between some parking spaces at a business park. CCTV footage captured the moment Atkins pulled in in February 2017 and unloaded the large HGV tipper load.
Firms at the business park where Atkins left the mountain of rubbish had to pay over £3,000 to have the waste removed. Police seized the lorry after it was found abandoned some six miles back a week later.
After an investigation, Atkins handed over a key and documents proving he was the registered owner of the lorry. When Atkins, from Copperfield in Chigwell, Essex, was quizzed by investigators he answered “no comment” to every question.
Atkins was sentenced to 16 months in prison. Judge Mary Loram KC said the defendant was responsible for the “planned and cynical dumping of waste”, which she described as “sophisticated”.
Atkins’ illegal dumping meant he could avoid fees and taxes usually paid during lawful disposal of rubbish. The Environment Agency said he also “undermined legal competitors” by cutting corners.
Lesley Robertson, who led the Environment Agency’s investigation, said: “We take illegal waste activity very seriously, and will not hesitate to disrupt criminal behaviour and prosecute those responsible. Atkins allowed his vehicle to be used to dump waste in Dartford. He operated at a commercial advantage, undermining legitimate business with little or no regard for the environment - and firms where the waste was dumped outside their premises had to pay for the clean-up.
“His custodial sentence demonstrates how seriously the court also considered this case to be.”
Atkins was charged with depositing waste on unlicensed land and for handling, controlling and transferring controlled waste without taking reasonable measures. Initially Atkins was handed a 14-month jail term for the waste offences, but the judge added an extra two months for failing to give himself up at an earlier court hearing and for being on a suspended sentence for driving while disqualified when the waste was dumped.
He was also ordered to pay £6,000 in costs, having been convicted in his absence at the same court last October. A spokesman for the Environment Agency added: “[He] caused significant interference with the legitimate activities of industrial estate users and business owners.”
Anyone with suspicions about fly-tipping can call the Environment Agency’s incident hotline 0800 807060, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
