Darlington man prosecuted for waste offences

He was also disqualified from acting as a company director for three years and ordered to pay £490 costs.

John Burnside Jones (26), of Coniscliffe Road, Darlington was sentenced at Teesside Magistrates’ Court on Friday 2 September 2022 having previously pleaded guilty to involvement in illegally misdescribing waste for financial gain.

Environment Agency officers visited Jones’ waste operation at the Trinity Works site in Haverton Hill, Billingham in January 2019. They found the business to be processing large volumes of waste types which the site’s environmental permit did not allow. The site was also found to lack the required management systems to deal with the environmental risks. Jones was served with notices requiring details of the site’s waste but failed to respond to these in full.

Further investigations by the Environment Agency revealed that between September 2018 and February 2019, over 6,000 tonnes of unpermitted, combustible waste had been transported to the site from as far away as Bristol. Jones had then transported more than 11,000 tonnes of inert waste soils to a nearby landfill site during the same period. The discrepancy between the volumes of incoming and outgoing waste was a result of Jones mixing incoming waste with soil and stones left from previous site operations and falsely describing this resulting mixture as inert waste.

Inert waste incurs significantly lower landfill tax per tonne and may also be disposed of at a much-reduced rate at landfill facilities without the same level of safeguards and protections as would otherwise be required. By fraudulently misdescribing the waste, Jones was able to make large sums of money by flouting his environmental obligations.

In mitigation, Jones stated that although his company had operated the site, he had limited direct involvement and had been very naïve in relying upon others to run the site for him. He had never previously been in trouble and fully co-operated with the investigation. He admitted that he had never seen the site’s environmental permit and was oblivious to its requirements.

The court ruled that the offending was deliberate and committed for financial gain. At an earlier hearing the permit holder James William Mason, 64, of Camden Street, Stockton-on-Tees had pleaded guilty to allowing the illegal waste activities to be undertaken on his site and was ordered to pay a total of £2,528 in fines and costs.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said:

The conditions of an environmental permit are designed to protect people and the environment. Failure to comply with these legal requirements is a serious offence that can damage the environment, undermine local legitimate environmental permit holders, put jobs at risk and cause misery for local communities.

We welcome sentencing by the Court, which should act as a deterrent to others considering flouting the law.



PM call with President Zelenskyy: 5 September 2022

Press release

Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke to President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy this afternoon.

The Prime Minister spoke to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, this afternoon to thank him for his leadership and friendship.

The Prime Minister made clear that he believed President Zelenskyy and his people can and will win the war in Ukraine.

President Zelenskyy thanked the Prime Minister for believing in Ukraine and its people and updated on the recent progress of his Armed Forces in the south of the country.

The Prime Minister said he was convinced the Ukrainian forces could continue to succeed in pushing back Russian forces and added that the UK remained steadfast in its support.

The Prime Minister told President Zelenskyy it had been a privilege to work with him and support him, and the leaders agreed to stay in close touch as friends.

Published 5 September 2022



Bournemouth company director prosecuted for supplying illegal security to sports bar

Press release

On 24 August 2022, a security firm and its director were prosecuted at Poole Magistrates’ Court for supplying unlicensed security to a Bournemouth sports bar.

Company director Terence Macartney, from Wareham, pleaded guilty and was fined £415. He was also ordered to pay court costs of £1,529 plus a victim surcharge of £42. A guilty plea was also entered for Macartney’s business, Maxim Security Ltd. The company was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay court costs of £1,529 plus a victim surcharge of £100. A manager from Maxim pleaded not guilty to supplying illegal security and has elected to be tried in a crown court.

On 10 December last year Security Industry Authority (SIA) investigators, accompanied by Dorset Police licensing officers, visited a Bournemouth sports bar while carrying out routine licence inspections. They found two men working as door supervisors, one of whom proved that he was appropriately licensed by the SIA. The second man was unlicensed and denied that he was working as door supervisor. He pleaded not guilty and will appear again before Poole Magistrates’ Court in January 2023 for a trial hearing.

SIA investigators checked the signing-in book, which revealed that the man had also previously worked at the venue on 15 and 16 October. The owner of the venue confirmed to SIA investigators that Maxim Security Ltd were their security supplier.

On 16 May 2022 SIA investigators interviewed Terence Macartney under caution. He confirmed that as director of Maxim he had overall responsibility for the supply of security. On 25 August Terence Macartney resigned his role as director of the business.

Mark Chapman, one of the SIA’s criminal investigation managers said:

Maxim Security and its director Terence Macartney have been prosecuted and received a significant sentence. Mr Macartney has been handed a criminal record and his company fined, suffering reputational damage as a result. The role of the SIA licensing regime is to keep people safe, and this is particularly important in the run-up to the festive season when bars and clubs are busier. The public should be assured that the security appointed to protect them are suitably trained, qualified and licensed to do so.

Notes to editors:

  • By law, security operatives working under contract must hold and display a valid SIA licence
  • Read about SIA enforcement and penalties
  • The offences relating to the Private Security Industry Act (2001) that are mentioned above are as follows:
    • Maxim Security Ltd: Section 5 – deploying unlicensed guards
    • Terence Anthony Macartney: Section 5 via section 23 – deploying unlicensed guards

Further information:

  • The Security Industry Authority is the organisation responsible for regulating the private security industry in the United Kingdom, reporting to the Home Secretary under the terms of the Private Security Industry Act 2001. The SIA’s main duties are the compulsory licensing of individuals undertaking designated activities and managing the voluntary Approved Contractor Scheme.
  • For further information about the Security Industry Authority or to sign up for email updates visit: www.gov.uk/sia. The SIA is also on LinkedIn Facebook (Security Industry Authority) and Twitter (@SIAuk).

Published 5 September 2022



Reappointment of lay panel member of the Judicial Conduct and Investigations Office.

News story

The Lord Chancellor has announced the reappointment of Bronwen Curtis CBE as a lay panel member of the Judicial Conduct and Investigations Office for a third term of 9 months.

The Lord Chancellor, in consultation with the Lord Chief Justice, has announced the reappointment of Bronwen Curtis CBE as a lay panel member of the Judicial Conduct and Investigations Office.

The reappointment will run from 1 July 2022 to 31 March 2023.

The Judicial Conduct and Investigations Office is an independent office which supports the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice in considering complaints about the personal conduct of judicial office-holders.

Appointments and reappointments are made by the Lord Chancellor and are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The reappointment has been made in line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.

Biography

Bronwen Curtis CBE has held leadership positions in both the private and public sector and most recently as Director, Human Resources and Organisational Development, Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust. Bronwen is a lay member of the Speakers Committee for IPSA and a member of the regulatory appointments panel for the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. She is a former UK Board member of a global corporation and previously named Midlands Businesswoman of the Year.

Published 5 September 2022



New footbridge and cricket club lead next step of restoration at Lower Otter

  • Temporary diversion of South West Coast Path to enable construction of new footbridge
  • Relocation of Budleigh Salterton Cricket Club to a safer location above the floodplain

The dry summer has seen the scheme progress well. Significant progress has been made on preparing and consolidating the new raised and flood-free route of South Farm Road ready for construction, the building of a road bridge under which tidal waters will flow, and the lowering of Big and Little Banks at the north of the scheme. As a result, the project now turns its attention to the very southern end of the site, preparing the way for the re-connection of the historic floodplain with the Otter River and its estuary via a breach in the existing earth embankment.

To ensure continuity of the popular and nationally important South West Coast Path, a 70-metre footbridge will be constructed in the location of the future breach. This will provide a more accessible, and all-season route through the raising of the 900-metre-long footpath on the western edge of the valley, which runs from the entrance of the current Budleigh Salterton Cricket Club on Granary Lane to South Farm Road.

While the footbridge works are underway, there will be a temporary diversion in place of a short section of the footpath from 15 September 2022 until the completion of the breach in spring/summer 2023.

Map showing the South West Coast Path diversion route

Starting work the same week after completing its final season, the nearby Budleigh Salterton Cricket Club will be relocated to its new home at an already constructed and purpose-built pitch. This is a more sustainable location that will provide improved facilities and is no longer subject to flooding. This means the existing clubhouse will be demolished and some surrounding vegetation within the floodplain removed by a specialist team of arboriculturists. Any trees lost will be replaced as part of the project’s mitigation planting programme. This work will enable the creation of over 50 hectares of rare wildlife-rich saltmarsh and mudflat.

Dan Boswell of the Environment Agency said:

Thanks to the continued support and patience of the local community and visitors to the Lower Otter, our work to reconnect the estuary to its historic floodplain for the benefit of birds, biodiversity and people is starting to take shape. The South West Coast Path and the cricket club mean a great deal to the community, and so it is important to us and the project that the project supports their future and helps them adapt to sea level rise.

The temporary diversion of the footpath will allow users to continue to enjoy the area safely with as little disruption as possible. The new footbridge and improved footpath will mean visitors will be able to take in better views all year round of the surrounding natural habitats and diverse wildlife that will be attracted to the restored wetlands. The new home of the relocated cricket club will not only safeguard it too from the risks of flooding, but will also allow for an even greater range of community amenities and activities.

The Lower Otter Restoration Project is an intertidal habitat creation project delivered by the Environment Agency in partnership with the East Devon Pebblebed Heaths Conservation Trust and Clinton Devon Estates.

It is part of a cross-border initiative called ‘Promoting Adaptation to Changing Coasts’ (PACCo) where we are working with partners in the Saâne Valley in Normandy (France) to share learning on the delivery of climate change adaptation projects.

The Lower Otter Restoration Project has been majority funded by the UK government, with £8.5 million of co-financing from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through the Interreg V A France (Channel) England programme (2021 to 2023).

Details of the project can be found at: https://www.lowerotterrestorationproject.co.uk/projectaims.html