Kevin Gary Scott, 54, of Bridge Street, Hilgay, Norfolk, ran the site at Fairfield Garage illegally for a number of months.

He had registered exemptions online but none covered the level of waste storage and treatment that was carried out at the site, the court was told by Rebecca Vanstone, prosecuting for the Environment Agency.

During a hearing on Thursday 20 June 2019, the court was told the site was next to a drainage ditch leading to the River Wissey and close to 10 houses around two boundaries, the nearest of which was only 10 metres from the waste storage area.

The court heard that since 2011 the site had been used legally for vehicle repairs and sales and the storage of touring caravans and dinghies, but in January 2017 it was turned into the illegal waste storage and treatment site.

Ms Vanstone told the court:

Mr Scott was aware that he needed an environmental permit and had applied for various exemptions.

He applied in January but didn’t even check to see they were in place before an inspection in March and after the inspection he applied for more, none designed to allow waste storage and treatment in the way he was working. They were subsequently de-registered.

An environmental permit to operate a waste site comes with rules about how waste is stored and treated in order to safeguard the environment.

A stop letter and waste removal letter were sent in March 2017 after a site inspection by the Environment Agency. The court was told that a month later it was found that exemptions for the site were not being complied with or were not appropriate, so they were de-registered and Scott was given a month to clear the waste.

The court was told Scott had failed to comply and was given a further 8 weeks, but by the end of August only some of the waste had gone.

In imposing the sentence, His Honour Judge Holt recognised Mr Scott’s guilty plea, the efforts that had been made to remedy the situation and the fact that there had been no further offending since this offence. Scott was fined £520 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge.

After the hearing Environmental Crime Team Leader Phil Henderson said:

This is the second time in under 2 years that Mr Scott has been prosecuted by the Environment Agency for operating an illegal waste site. Despite being given advice and guidance, he again chose not to apply for a permit and continued to operate illegally forcing us to take this action. We hope that the sentence handed down today will deter Mr Scott from future offending.

We are actively targeting illegal waste activities across the country and would urge all those seeking to become involved in the waste industry to ensure they have the appropriate permits and authorisations in place before operating.

Andrew John Austin (52) of Sevenoaks, Kent, was the sole director of Karden (Europe) Ltd, a second-hand car dealership incorporated in August 2010.

In the summer of 2016, Andrew Austin caused Karden to mis-sell two luxury sports cars. The first, in July 2016, Austin sold claiming it was finance-free, despite knowing this was not the case.

After conducting their own vehicle check, the customer found out weeks later that Austin had sold the car under false pretences and tried to return it for a full refund. However, the customer only received a fraction of what they had originally paid.

The second luxury car was sold a month later in August 2016 where the customer paid a significant deposit and arranged finance to cover the remainder of the balance.

Both deposit and finance were paid to Karden but the company failed to deliver the vehicle and neither the finance nor the deposit was returned to the customer when requested. £16,500 was also transferred to Andrew Austin’s personal bank account.

And from October 2016, Karden stopped passing on the proceeds from car sales to clients, amounting to almost £28,000.

A petition to wind up the company was presented to the courts by creditors in February 2017. Within the following three months, Karden ramped up its car sales by almost £49,000 and withheld these proceeds from clients, too.

Before the petition could be heard by the courts, Karden entered into Creditors Voluntary Liquidation on 17 May 2017, with creditors claiming over £120,000.

The report of the liquidators appointed to wind up the company to the Insolvency Service triggered an investigation into the conduct of Andrew Austin as director, which uncovered the offences he had carried out.

On 29 April 2019, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Andrew John Austin. His ban, effective from 20 May 2019, lasts 11 years and disqualifies him from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.

Andrew Austin was, in separate proceedings, made bankrupt in October 2018 at the County Court in Hastings over affairs relating to Karden. The judge accepted that Andrew Austin was personally liable for some of the debts incurred by the company, and he was declared bankrupt.

Marc Symons, Deputy Head of Investigations, said:

Andrew Austin has driven his customers round the bend, robbing them of the freedom and joy that can come with a new set of wheels, as well as their hard-earned money.

This disqualification will severely impede him from causing harm to any other members of his community and serves as a warning that this behaviour will not be tolerated.

Notes to Editors

Andrew John Austin (52) is of Sevenoaks, Kent and his date of birth is March 1967.

Karden (Europe) Ltd (Company Registration number 07346188).

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings. Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of restrictions.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct.

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

The UK training facility was opened by Somalia’s Minister of Defence, Hassan Ali Mohammed, Southwest State Speaker, Abdulkadir Shariif Sheekhuna, and the UK Foreign Office’s Political Director, Richard Moore.

The BSTC, supported by the British government’s Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF), will support the SNA and promote long-term stability and security in Somalia. The new centre will train up to 120 Somali National Army soldiers at a time and will help the SNA improve the quality of its training.

Speaking at the opening of the facility, British Ambassador to Somalia, Ben Fender, said:

The UK is one of the major international providers of support to the Somali National Army. We’re playing a central part in helping the SNA conduct current operations in Lower Shabelle including through giving practical help to the newly recovered areas – like new housing for Sabid community

In Baidoa, the Somali forces we are supporting have been building defensive positions to make the approach roads into the city more secure. This is having a direct impact on the number of attacks in the city and the security of the surrounding area.

The SNA are motivated, keen to learn and professional. We are committed to long-term co-operation in order to help Somalia improve security and regain full control over its territory.

The Somalia’s Minister of Defence, Hassan Ali Mohammed said:

Security and stability is crucial for the future of Somalia. Al Shabaab is a threat to the national security and supporting the army is vital in undermining the extremist efforts.

I would like to thank the UK government for their continuous support to Somalia. To the SNA you have an important role to play in securing the country, take advantage of the trainings provided to better yourself and to secure the country.

British military personnel have been training the SNA since January 2017. They have delivered courses on areas such as medical skills, leadership, equipment care, logistics and human rights.

The close collaboration between the UK and Poland as strong contributors to European, transatlantic and global security has been an important factor in NATO’s success. Both countries meet the NATO spending defence pledge, support regional deterrence as part of Enhanced Forward Presence and join forces in NATO missions around the world.

In a year where we look back to commemorate 100 years of renewed diplomatic relations between the UK and Poland, 70 years of NATO and 20 years of Poland and the UK as partners in the Alliance, the British Embassy Warsaw and the Kazimierz Pułaski Foundation launch “UK & Poland – Perspectives for Future Security Cooperation” – an essay competition.

How can you take part in the competition?

We would like you to look forward and write an essay on how NATO – and the UK and Poland as key allies – can drive forward European and transatlantic security cooperation and our response to modern threats.

Write an essay on one of the following topics:

• NATO: UK and Polish strategic cooperation within the NATO framework
• Hybrid: winning the hybrid race – NATO, UK and Poland responding to 21st century challenges
• Global: NATO, UK and Poland projecting global security

What do you get if you win?

The winning essay will be published on the British Embassy Warsaw’s website and social media channels.

The winner and runner up in each category will receive a pass for the Warsaw Security Forum and meet with UK officials joining the workshop.

Rules of the contest

Participation in the contest is open to BA and MA students of any institution of higher education in Poland residing in Poland during the duration of the contest, excluding British Embassy Warsaw or Kazimierz Pulaski Foundation staff and members of their families.

The essay should be written in English. The maximum word count is 1400.

Only one entry per participant is allowed.

The essay should be all the own work of the participant. Plagiarism is not accepted.

Entries should be submitted as a link (eg. via WeTransfer or Google Drive) to the British Embassy Warsaw (hereby: organisers) at info@britishembassy.pl by Sunday, 25 August 2019, 23:59 CET. The email should be titled “UK & Poland security cooperation – essay competition”.

Entries should include the participant’s name, surname, academic affiliation, and place of residence.

They should also include a scanned version of the image consent (ODT, 11.6KB) , signed by the participant.

Personal data will be protected in line with GDPR requirements. More information is available in the privacy notice (ODT, 12.8KB) .

The essays will be considered by a panel including UK Embassy and Kazimierz Pulaski Foundation officials. The winners and runners up will be contacted by Thursday 12 September. We will contact only winners and runners up.

The work of the contest panel is confidential – there will be no possibility to appeal on the panel’s decision and the panel is not obliged to disclose the arguments behind its choice.

Should any of the category winners or runner-ups require travelling from outside of Warsaw in order to participate in the Warsaw Security Forum, travel expenses will be covered by the organisers.

If you are an overseas member of the Armed Forces Pension Schemes (AFPS) and are in receipt of regular pension payments from Defence Business Services (DBS) Veterans UK, it is really important you keep us up to date with any changes of circumstances that may affect the amount of pension we pay you. If your pension payments have recently stopped and you are not sure why, it may be because we did not receive a response from you following our recent exercise to contact overseas members to confirm personal details and ensure you are receiving the right payments.

Between August and November 2018, we wrote to approximately 23,000 overseas AFPS members asking them to sign a declaration and return it to us to confirm ongoing entitlement. While most members signed and returned the declaration, some have not responded to our letter or to a recent reminder.

To ensure that the right payments are made to the right people, we have begun placing pensions on hold if we have not received a response. The pension payments will be held in trust until on-going entitlement is confirmed.

If you think this affects you please contact Equiniti, our paying agent and they will send you a duplicate declaration for completion. Once the completed declaration is received your pension payments will start again and any arrears paid.

Equiniti can be contacted by telephone on +44 1903 768 625. Completed declarations, should be sent to the following address: