A London waste crime gang has been jailed for conspiracy to illegally dump controlled waste across six sites in the capital.
An Environment Agency investigation found that the group carried out a ‘sophisticated and calculated’ criminal operation.
Members of the gang unlawfully occupied six vacant sites across London before using tipper trucks to dump waste on the land.
Despite repeated attempts to disable CCTV equipment and conceal their identities by removing registration plates, wearing masks, stripping identifying labels from waste, nearby cameras, council CCTV, and police body-worn footage captured the gang’s activities in detail.
The gang of four men were found guilty at Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court of conspiracy to illegally dump controlled waste, such as tyres and waste from house clearances and construction, following a pattern of offending that spanned a year.
Patrick Doherty was given a 28-month prison sentence, and Martin Ward received 18 months. Michael Ward (also known as Martin McCann) and Simon O’Donnell both received 14 months, suspended for 2 years.
Matt Higginson, Environment Manager for the Environment Agency, commented: “This verdict is justice for residents who have had to endure misery and environmental damage at the hands of this gang.”
“We are laser focused on tackling illegal waste crime and are stepping up action with better intelligence, faster interventions and naming and shaming rogue operators.”
Landowners were left with clean-up bills running into hundreds of thousands of pounds following the gang’s activities.
At Imperial Way in Croydon, the landowner was forced to pay £300,000 in clean-up costs after the gang smashed security cameras and threatened a company representative.
The Environment Agency said that members of the gang threatened a site worker at a separate location, telling them to pay £5,000 or threatening to ‘fill this unit to the brim’. Waste went on to be piled five feet high at the site, which costs £15,000 to clear.
