WIREDGOV

Total to pay is more than £36,000 including costs with five-year criminal behaviour order and suspended custodial sentence.

The operator of three illegal waste sites near Harleston has been issued a hefty £20,000 fine and a 5-year criminal behaviour order (CBO) after dumping, burying, and burning waste between October 2023 and July 2024.

In addition, David Pipe, director of D M Pipe Ltd, RRAGO Jack Leasing Ltd and RRAGO Jack Recruitment Ltd, received a 12-month custodial sentence, suspended for 18 months.

The criminal behaviour order set out conditions including preventing Pipe from being involved or concerned in any business involving the unlawful collection, transport, deposit, storage, or processing of waste from land without a permit or licence.  Another requires waste from all 3 sites to be removed within 12 months. 

In his remarks, district judge Matthew Bone said:

You have had enough time. With respect to you, this [removing the waste] will be your priority. The position in this case is not regulatory misunderstanding or uncertainty. The offending arose from a persistent failure over a protracted period. You knew what the notices required and chose not to do so.

Pipe imported, stored, and burned large quantities of waste at land known as Withersdale Hall. Environment Agency officers first visited the site in October 2023 and saw a skip of burning wood, waste dumped in an historic moat, and large piles of waste stored in buildings and other skips. One of the skips had the name ‘DM Pipe Groundworks’ on it.

The Environment Agency sent a cease-and-desist letter instructing him to stop and remove all waste from the site as it didn’t have any environmental permits in place. Officers revisited in November 2023 and saw the waste still present and that it had grown.

Pipe was invited to a voluntary interview under caution. When no reply was forthcoming, Officers revisited the site and saw waste still there.  The Environment Agency then wrote to inform Pipe warning him of potential legal action.  Further visits were made culminating in a final inspection made on 23 March 2026 which showed little effort had been made to clear the site.

Lesley Robertson, enforcement team leader at the Environment Agency in Norfolk, said:

Where we find evidence of illegal activity, we will not hesitate to take enforcement action; the suspended sentence and CBO show how seriously the court views waste crime.

Councillor Tristan Gale, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for planning, devolution and the fire service, said:

I welcome this outcome, which sends a clear message that breaches of planning and environmental regulations will not be tolerated. I would like to thank Suffolk County Council officers and the Environment Agency for their work in bringing this case before the courts. We will continue to work with our partners to protect Suffolk’s communities, environment and law-abiding businesses.

David Mark Pipe was charged with two waste offences:

1. Between 23 October 2023 and 16 July 2024 at Withersdale Hall, Metfield, Harleston, IP20 0JR did operate a regulated facility, namely a waste operation for the deposit, treatment and storage of waste, except under and to the extent authorised by an environmental permit contrary to regulations 12 and 38(1)(a) Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.

2. By 13 May 2024, failed, without reasonable excuse to comply with a notice dated 16 February 2024 and served on you on pursuant to section 59(1)(a) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 in that you failed to remove controlled waste from land at Withersdale Hall Metfield, Harleston, IP20 0JR and failed to provide evidence of the lawful removal of controlled waste contrary to section 59(5) Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Background:

• The Environment Agency’s ten-point plan is taking the fight against waste criminals up a gear. Specialist officers are acting earlier on larger sites, sharing more information with the public, making greater use of enforcement tools, and actively naming and shaming illegal waste sites.
• The Environment Agency has secured almost 250 prosecutions for waste offences across England since 2023, with courts handing out fines of more than £2.2m and nearly 90 custodial or suspended prison sentences.
• In 2024/25 alone, the Environment Agency closed 743 illegal waste sites over the country. Some 143 were high risk.
• The Environment Agency’s economic crime unit has secured more than £1.5m in confiscation orders in recent years, along with freezing almost £21m through investigations into money laundering linked to waste crime.
• Ten-point plan: https://engageenvironmentagency.uk.engagementhq.com/waste-crime-stand-with-us-to-end-waste-crime