A major illegal waste dumping operation that included a site at Gill Bridge Farm in Boston has been uncovered as part of a nationwide investigation into one of England’s most prolific waste criminals.
Varun Datta, 36, of Little Chester Street, London, has been ordered to hand over more than £1.4 million after being found responsible for the illegal dumping of more than 4,275 tonnes of waste across 16 sites in England, including one in Boston, two in Grantham, one in Thorney, one in Spalding and a further 11 across the rest of the country.
The Environment Agency’s investigation revealed that farms, a historic manor house and even a nature reserve were used as illegal dumping grounds, with huge quantities of waste deposited without permits or exemptions.
At Birmingham Crown Court last Friday (13 February), Datta was ordered to pay £1.1 million, representing the financial benefit from his crimes, plus £100,000 in compensation and £200,000 in prosecution costs. He also received a four-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months, alongside 30 days of rehabilitation activity and 200 hours of unpaid work.
The court heard that Datta, through his company Atkins Recycling Ltd, became a registered waste broker in 2015. He claimed waste was being sent to a legal site near Sheffield, but in reality loads were diverted to unlicensed dumping sites across the country, including Gill Bridge Farm in Boston.
Judge Paul Farrar KC described the offences as “reckless”, telling the court that “smell and flies were a feature at some of the illegal sites and caused a localised adverse effect to air quality”, while landowners were “forced to incur substantial costs in removing the illegal waste”.
The total amount of waste dumped, around 4,275 tonnes, was compared in court to the weight of roughly 600 African elephants.
Two other men were also prosecuted in the case. Mohammed Saraji Bashir, 45, of Windmill Street, Peterborough, received a four-month suspended prison sentence, plus rehabilitation and unpaid work, after pleading guilty to offences linked to three sites. Robert William McAllister, 55, of Iveagh Close, Northwood, London, was fined £750 for failing to comply with waste broker duty of care rules.
Warrants remain active for two other suspects, including Sandeep Golechha, who is alleged to have helped falsify weighbridge documents to disguise the illegal activity.
Emma Viner, Enforcement and Investigations Manager at the Environment Agency’s National Environmental Crime Unit, said: “We are glad to see the perpetrators brought to justice in this appalling case.
“Despite their attempts to conceal their criminality, our in-depth investigation spanning the length and breadth of the country ultimately uncovered those responsible.
“We will never stop fighting to end the scourge of waste crime which scars our environment and communities.”
Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds MP added: “This is a shocking case of illegal waste dumping, orchestrated by a group of shameless crooks who thought they could operate above the law.
“I welcome the punishments secured by the Environment Agency – which send a clear message to criminals that they have nowhere to hide.
” This government is committed to stamping out this type of criminality across the country by boosting funds to tackle waste crime and introducing tougher checks and penalties for those who break the law.”
The £100,000 compensation order relates to clean-up costs at sites in Middlesbrough and Lancashire, but the Environment Agency says the impact of the illegal dumping was felt nationwide, including here in the Boston area, where land was used without permission and left contaminated by waste.
Anyone who suspects illegal waste activity is urged to report it to the Environment Agency’s 24-hour hotline on 0800 80 70 60, or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
