GovWire

• Vehicles linked to John Strides company caught dumping 160 tonnes of waste at closed landfill.
• Stride to contribute 4,000 towards costs.
• Second attempt to illegally dump waste at site thwarted.

John Stride from Epping was sentenced to 120 hours unpaid community service work, ordered to pay 4,000 costs and a victim surcharge of 85 at Reading magistrates court. This follows a guilty plea at Slough magistrates court on 20 October 2023 to causing his company to dump approximately 160 tonnes, similar to the weight of a Boeing 787 aircraft, of waste at a closed landfill site in Gerrards Cross, in Buckinghamshire.

Howard McCann, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, told the court that vehicles belonging to Orion Support Services Ltd illegally dumped around 8 lorry loads, approximately 160 tonnes of waste. The waste was dumped at Veolia UKs Wapseys Wood landfill site over the bank holiday weekend of 26 to 29 May 2018.

The waste was part of a larger illegal dump of more than 600 tonnes at the closed site over that weekend. After increasing their security, Veolia UK thwarted another attempt to dump more waste at the site from Strides vehicles and others the following weekend.

John Stride, 56, was the sole director of Orion Support Services Ltd, which held an environmental permit to operate a waste site at Cody Road Business Centre in Canning Town, east London. The company was dissolved in December 2019.

Barry Russell, an environment manager at the Environment Agency, said,

Through our officers investigations, this prosecution sends out a strong signal to others that we will continue to fight tirelessly to combat illegal waste crime and bring those responsible to justice.

We all create waste, and we all have a responsibility to ensure our waste is handled correctly. Businesses and householders also need to do everything possible to ensure that waste doesnt end up in the hands of operators who break the law by checking the online register Waste carriers, brokers and dealers (data.gov.uk)

To help us take enforcement action, like we have in this case, we encourage legitimate waste operators and the public to report any suspicious waste operations on 0800 807060.

During a complex investigation, the Environment Agency crime team used information from Veolia UK including CCTV footage, and vehicle tracking data to trace the waste dumped on site back to Strides company vehicles and his site in Canning Town.

Stride admitted in interview that he was responsible for the waste being dumped at the site. He also admitted that items found in the waste were likely to be from waste processed at his companys site in Canning Town.

Background

John Stride, DOB 6/7/1967, of Theydon Park Road, Theydon Bois, Epping.

Stride was given community service of 120 days unpaid work, 30 hours rehabilitation activity requirement, costs of 4,000 and victim surcharge of 85.

The charges we:

1. Between 6.50pm on Saturday 26 May 2018 and 2.40am on Monday 28 May 2018, Orion Support Services Limited deposited controlled waste on land at Wapseys Wood landfill site, Oxford Road, Gerrards Cross, other than in accordance with the sites environment permit contrary to section 33(1)(a) and (6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and such deposits were committed with consent, connivance or were attributed to neglect as the director of the company by virtue of section 157 (1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

2. Between 6.45pm and 8.45pm on Saturday 2 June, Orion Support Services Limited attempted to deposit controlled waste on land at Wapseys Wood landfill site, Oxford Road, Gerrards Cross, other than in accordance with the sites environment permit contrary to section 33(1)(a) and (6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and such deposits were committed with consent, connivance or were attributed to neglect as the director of the company by virtue of section 157(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

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E-mail: Communications_SE@environment-agency.gov.uk

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