Environmental sentencing
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Legal Development 16 January 2024 16 January 2024
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UK & Europe
Environmental sentencing update
| Date | Turnover/size of company (N.B approx only) |
Court | Fine | Sector | Incident type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13th Nov | £32.4 million | Bristol Magistrates’ Court | £20,000 | Manufacturing | The defendant cheese making company caused pollution from its farm for a third time. It admitted a charge of causing discharge of poisonous, noxious or polluting matter. The judge said that this was with another case of the defendant failing to self-report a pollution incident to the Environment Agency because "they hope to get away with pollution incidents." |
| 23rd Nov | Small company | South Shields Magistrates’ Court | £4,615 | Waste | The defendant pleaded guilty to running an illegal waste site, illegally dipositing tyres at other sites, and making inaccurate statements in waste transfer notes. |
| 2nd Oct | Micro company | Worcester Crown Court | £8,500 | Waste |
The defendant waste company admitted unlawfully storing, treating and disposing of waste without an environmental permit. The sentencing judge stated that the offending amounted to an intentional and flagrant breach of the law and was aggravated by previous convictions and financial motivation. |
| 30th Nov | U/k | n/a | £500,000 to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. £500,000 to Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust. | Water | The defendant water company polluted a watercourse. It breached its environmental permit with an authorised sewage discharge. Almost 1,500 fish had been killed and water quality affected for 2.5km downstream. A series of further blockages and discharges took place in the following months. The defendant submitted an Enforcement Undertaking to the Environment Agency proposing a charitable donation totalling £1 million which is the largest ever accepted by the Agency. |
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