THE men and company behind more than a thousand tonnes of waste being illegally dumped in Wrexham have been sentenced.
Anthony Park, aged 54 and of Coronation Road in Carmarthen, appeared for sentence at Caernarfon Crown Court on Friday alongside co-defendants Gavin Taylor, aged 44 and of Barlow Drive in Sheffield, 36-year-old Karl Jones of Oak Tree Close in Wickersley, Rotherham, and FCM Commercial Services Ltd.
FCM Commercial Services Ltd, Taylor and Jones had previously admitted knowingly causing controlled waste to be deposited on land otherwise than in accordance with an environmental permit.
Park had admitted operating a facility otherwise than in accordance with an environmental permit.
The court heard from Christopher Stables, prosecuting, how Chartered Surveyors and Commercial Estate Agent Legat Owen received an enquiry from Park, who was interested in renting a site of 300 to 500 square feet.
He claimed he had a contract with the Jamaican Embassy to manufacture wind turbines and he was looking for a place to store them.
After several viewings, including a hangar in the Deeside area, an agreement was reached in early May 2017 to take on a site in Davy Way, Llay.
On May 19, 2017, Natural Resources Wales was informed that baled waste was being deposited on the site.
NRW officers attended the site and saw three trailers with baled waste being unloaded.
The building at the site was three-quarters full with waste being piled "as high as possible."
It emitted a "strong odour of waste," with a number of flies in the premises - and where bags had ripped officers observed plastic, glass, fibre, foam and other materials.
READ MORE: Wrexham man carried out 'dreadfully serious' campaign of abuse on former partner
As the officers investigated, two more trailers arrived under the company name Banana Logistics, which was run by the defendant Karl Jones.
The contents had been brokered by a firm called GT Waste Brokers, run then by Gavin Taylor.
Taylor had been obtaining the waste and using connections to bring it to the site in the full knowledge that it wasn't permitted.
As part of his offence, Taylor provided Karl Jones with a document purporting to be the cover sheet of an environmental permit.
But not only was it not actually a permit - it related to a completely different site and company.
The court heard Jones would have realised this very quickly had he made efforts to check.
Following the discoveries at the site, fire officers attended and confirmed significant heat was being generated by the bales.
They were "very worried" that the bales were heating up and there was a risk of self combustion and fire, resulting in some of the bales being moved out into the car parking area of the site.
"In some cases," Mr Stables said, "the bales heated up to the point where they were too hot to touch with bare hands."
All-in-all, some 1,600 tonnes of waste was illegally deposited at the site.
The owner of the unit incurred almost £1m in losses - including £300,000 in lost rent, £217,000 for the removal of waste, £476,000 due to damage caused to the building, £20,000 in security costs and other costs associated with labour.
It was determined that FCM Commercial Services had moved 13 loads of waste to the site and Banana Logistics had moved 45.
Richard Edwards, defending Anthony Park, said his client had been acting against a "very real background" of "severe threats" - with Judge Nicola Saffman agreeing the defendant had indeed been working to pay off debt he owed to "some rather sinister individuals."
Mr Edwards said: "This is a man who was a successful business owner and he's very grateful to the police, social services and the local authority who have started to help him turn his life around."
Vanessa Saxton, defending Gavin Taylor, said: "This man got involved, and attempted to remove himself by taking himself off the Companies House register.
"But he recognises he has responsibility by way of his guilty plea."
Dafydd Roberts, defending Karl Jones, said his client had set up Banana Logistics to try and improve his family's life.
"He invested his life savings and it failed catastrophically," he said.
"He lost everything."
Mr Roberts said the defendant's actions had amounted to negligence and that he accepts "he could have done more."
Patrick Geddes, defending FCM, said the company had believed the work had been legitimate and "perhaps charitably, were far too trusting."
He said the firm had not profited from the offence - and had in fact been left "out of pocket."
The company gave its full assistance to investigators, he said.
Judge Saffman handed down a 14 month jail term for Park and Taylor - telling them both their actions had been a deliberate and flagrant breach of the law.
Make sure you don't miss the top court stories of the week by signing up to our free court newsletter
But the sentences were suspended for 18 months with no further requirements.
Jones, the Judge said, had been negligent - and received a 12 month community order with 68 hours of unpaid work.
FCM received a fine of £1,500 and must pay £5,000 towards prosecution costs, as well as a £150 victim surcharge.
Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings have commenced.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel