Three Individuals Fined Nearly £14,000 for Illegal Waste Operation

Three individuals have been directed to collectively pay almost £14,000 due to their involvement in operating an unauthorized waste facility on a farm. According to the Environment Agency (EA), mobile phone data assisted in the prosecution of the three men, who confessed to their participation in depositing shredded waste at Great Low Farm, located in Buxton. Joseph Kidd, Anthony Melland, and Adam Swindells received their sentences on Thursday at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court for the infractions committed between November 6 and November 9, 2020. Each of the defendants was mandated to pay a fine, court costs, and a victim surcharge, amounting to a grand total of £13,970. The EA reported that testimony in court indicated firefighters responded to the farm on November 9, 2020, where shredded waste and tires were burning. The agency stated that the three individuals lacked an environmental permit and did not maintain waste transfer notes. The EA further noted that as emergency crews worked to extinguish the blaze, a JCB Fastrac and trailer, operated by Swindells, arrived at the farm carrying an additional eight tonnes of shredded waste. The rural crime team of Derbyshire Police collaborated with the EA in the investigation, leading to the arrests of Melland, identified as the landowner; Swindells, the driver; and Kidd, the tractor owner. The mobile phones belonging to the three men were confiscated, yielding evidence of their prior waste deposits. Although they initially denied the accusations, they entered guilty pleas on the opening day of their scheduled trial. Brian Jones, the lead investigator for the EA, commented: “This site posed a significant environmental threat due to the high risk of fire and potentially significant impact to local communities and amenities.” Andy Shaw, representing the rural crime team, stated that the three individuals would have been “in no doubt about their illegal activities and the potentially serious environmental and health-related issues that they could have caused”. The full details regarding the pleas and sentencing of the three individuals are provided below: