A former teacher who filled 2 quarries in Hertfordshire with illegal waste has been ordered to pay thousands of pounds following an investigation into proceeds of crime.
Liam Winters presided over the illegal disposal of assorted rubbish at Codicote Quarry, near Stevenage.
An investigation by the Environment Agency found approximately 200,000 cubic metres of household, commercial and industrial waste, as well as electrical items, car parts, furniture, food packaging, wood and metal. It could have filled the Royal Albert Hall nearly 3 times over.
An Environment Agency investigator inspects waste hidden in a futile attempt to avoid it being found
Winters, of Warwickshire, also ignored the Environment Agency’s instructions to stop filling Anstey Quarry, at Buntingford, near Royston, with banned waste such as plastic, wood, metal and packaging, all broken into tiny pieces.
The waste piled up at Anstey Quarry scaled the height of 5 double-decker buses
He was given 17 months in prison in October 2023 for dumping the illegal waste at the 2 sites and a nearby shooting ground.
The piles of waste at Anstey reached 20 metres into the sky, the height of 5 double-decker buses.
The Anstey Quarry Company Ltd, of which Winters was a director, leased the quarry, with a permit from the Environment Agency to treat and dispose of up to 10,000 cubic metres of clean soil waste a year.
Investigators estimated as much as 250,000 cubic metres of harmful biodegradable materials was buried there.
Soil was used at all 3 sites to cover some of the waste in an attempt to avoid detection.
Judge Caroline Wigin, sitting at Luton crown court on 8 May, ordered Winters, to pay £78,835. This followed an proceeds of crime investigation by the Environment Agency’s national economic crime unit.
The money will be split between His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service and the Environment Agency. Winters faces 2 more years in prison if he doesn’t pay within 3 months. The 48-year-old, of High Street, Hillmorton, Rugby, also has to pay a victim surcharge of £120.
Barry Russell, environment manager for the Environment Agency in Hertfordshire, said:
“We are determined that waste operators who break the law don’t benefit from their crimes
“It was clear every time we visited the sites, there was no substantial change to the illegal way they were being run.
“Operations like Anstey and Codicote are damaging in many ways, including the potential or actual harm caused to the environment by inappropriate and illegal storage of waste materials, and the financial impact on businesses who follow the rules, pay their way and protect the environment.
“Despite warnings from the Environment Agency to stop, Winters and the other men carried on bringing in more illegal waste.”
The Environment Agency served an enforcement notice, ordering the business to stop taking in material at Anstey that could do damage to the ground if left in landfill.
Codicote Quarry had a permit to treat and store a small amount of soil waste, but not hold it in huge quantities. The quarry went far beyond what was authorised by the Environment Agency.
Nicholas Bramwell, now 45, of Shepherds Close, Royston, was fined £1,450 and told to pay £8,000 in costs and a £120 victim surcharge after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to burying large quantities of potentially harmful waste at Anstey Quarry and a shooting ground at Nuthampstead.
The Environment Agency found more plastic, wood and metal in sizable quantities at the firing range, where it was used to build a 10-metre high embankment.
Both men admitted to 5 counts of breaching regulation 38 (2) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 in relation to Anstey Quarry and Nuthampstead shooting ground.
Winters faced four more charges under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 and the Environmental Protection Act 1990 in relation to Codicote Quarry.
Judge Wigin said no costs would be awarded against Winters because he had served a custodial prison sentence.
Winters’ brother, Mark Winters, 50, of Bangor Erris, in County Mayo, received 12 months in prison in 2023, suspended for 2 years, and told to carry out 200 hours unpaid work over the waste at Codicote.
The brothers were also banned from being company directors for 8 years.
Luton crown court will sit on 9 July to decide on proceeds of crime payments and costs against Mark Winters and to sentence Codicote Quarry Ltd, of which the brothers were also directors.
There is no suggestion the owners of the 3 locations played any part in the criminal activity.
Journalists only: 0800 141 2743 or communications_se@environment-agency.gov.uk.
