One of the sites targeted by the criminals (Picture: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Vacant sites across London were turned into oceans of plastic, plywood and black bin liners by a gang of illegal waste dumpers.
Patrick Doherty, Martin Ward, Michael Ward and Simon O’Donnell would unlawfully occupy different spaces before directing convoys of tipper trucks to fill them with rubbish.
At one site in Colliers Wood, south-west London, they ordered a site worker to pay them £5,000 or they would ‘fill this unit to the brim’.
When the money was not forthcoming, they left a pile of waste five feet deep which cost £15,000 to clear.
On another site in Croydon, the landowner was left with a £300,000 bill after security cameras were smashed and a company representative was threatened to prevent them entering.
The four men were sentenced today after they were found guilty of conspiracy to illegally dump controlled waste at Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court.
Doherty was given 28 months in prison, while Ward received 18 months.
Ward and O’Donnell both received 14 months suspended for two years.
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The gang made considerable effort to hide their identities while carrying out their crimes, hiding their faces and interfering with cameras.
They also removed or covered the registration plates on their vehicles to cover their tracks.
But council CCTV and police body-worn footage were enough for the Environmental Agency to gather the evidence needed to convict.
Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds told Metro: ‘London represents some the best of Britain, but this cynical gang represents the very worst.
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‘Londoners take pride in their city, and they deserve better than to have their neighbourhoods blighted by shameless waste criminals.
‘Across the city, these men left a trail of destruction, and they have rightly been punished today.’
The four men would leave vast piles of rubbish for someone else to clean up (Picture: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
She continued: ‘My message is simple – break the law by dumping waste and we will come after you.
‘This government is tackling waste crime head on, through our Waste Crime Action Plan, from giving enforcement officers new police-style powers and using new technology, to boosting funds to bring criminals to justice.’
Waste crime costs the UK more than £1 billion every year, with incidents like the 500ft long, 20ft deep fly-tip near Kidlington in Oxfordshire last November drawing national attention.
The government recently announced the Environment Agency’s budget would be boosted by an additional £45 million each year for the next three years.
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