Press release: Scrapyard permit dodger claims end-of-life vehicles were for resale

Max Newbery denied running a scrapyard, claiming vehicles were bought with the intention of resale

The owner of an Exeter scrapyard has been given a suspended prison sentence for operating an illegal vehicle dismantling business.

Max Newbery was also ordered to pay £8,470 costs at the end of a 2-day trial before Exeter magistrates.The case was brought by the Environment Agency.

The court heard that in March 2014, the Environment Agency suspended the defendant’s environmental permit after he failed to pay the site’s annual permitting fee over a period of 5 years.

The scrapyard, at Barley Villas Yard, Redhills, Exeter, continued to accept vehicles despite it no longer being a permitted facility. Between 27 March 2014 and 25 February 2016 a minimum of 51 vehicles were accepted at the scrapyard.

When questioned, Newbery claimed he bought the vehicles with the intention of selling them on. He refused to accept they were waste as defined by the 2008 Waste Framework Directive which states that waste is ‘any substance or object which the owner discards or intends or is required to discard’.

Two women who took cars to the defendant’s scrapyard both said they were disposing of their vehicles. One described her’s as ‘Scrap, not a goer’ and the other, ‘Nobody would buy it.’ An Environment Agency officer, who visited the site, said in his professional opinion, all the cars brought to the scrapyard were end-of-life vehicles.

When questioned about the poor condition of some of the vehicles, Newbery claimed they had been ‘vandalised by children’, yet there was no CCTV at the site and little in the way of security to safeguard the vehicles he insisted were suitable for re-sale.

In addition to suspending his permit, the Environment Agency served Newbery with an Enforcement Notice requiring him to carry out improvements to the infrastructure of the scrapyard to minimise the risk of pollution and protect human health. Newbery said complying with the notice would be ‘expensive’ and it was therefore ‘unreasonable’ of the Agency to expect him to do so.

Magistrates were told the defendant’s business had an annual turnover of more than £50,000 and that he had recently obtained planning permission for the site. This had increased its value to around £600,000 and had prompted Newbery to try to sell it.

Jacob Hess of the Environment Agency said:

Scrapyard operators are required by law to put in place appropriate environmental safeguards to protect human health and the environment. The defendant continued running his scrapyard without making any of the legally required infrastructural improvements.

He avoided investing in the business as this would eat into his profits and continued making money from an illegal site.

Appearing before Exeter magistrates, Max Newbery, of Barley Villas Yard, Redhills, Exeter received a 24-week prison sentence, suspended for 2 years, and was ordered to pay £8,470 costs after being found guilty of operating a regulated waste facility without a permit and failing to comply with an enforcement notice in contravention of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.

Editor’s notes

Environmental permits are necessary to minimise the risk of pollution or harm to human health from operations at waste sites such as scrapyards. There are set procedures for de-polluting and dismantling of end-of-life vehicles that contain potentially hazardous substances including engine oil, clutch fluid, coolant, brake fluid, gearbox oil, lead acid batteries, power steering fluid, screen wash, fuels, CFC’s and lead wheel balancing weights.



Press release: Plymouth Skip Hire boss nearly jailed for dumping rubble

Operating as Plymouth Skip Hire, Calam was paid to dispose of waste but instead tipped it on a farmer’s land

A judge has told a Plymouth man he escaped prison ‘by the skin of his teeth’ in a case brought by the Environment Agency.

Connor Calam fly-tipped waste on the edge of Dartmoor while subject to a suspended prison sentence for driving offences. The custodial sentence was very nearly activated by Exeter Crown Court.

The court heard a farmer found a large quantity of rubble and other waste deposited across a track near Pudson Farm, Okehampton in January 2017. The waste blocked access to three of his fields. The farmer reported the incident to the Environment Agency and local council and was told he would have to pay for its removal and safe disposal.

Enquiries by the Environment Agency traced the waste back to Plymouth Skip Hire in Stonehouse, Plymouth operated by Connor Calam, also known as Riley James.

The building waste came from insurance repairs carried out on a property in Plymouth by a local company that paid the defendant £245 to remove the material on the understanding he was a registered waste carrier.

Plymouth Skip Hire ceased trading in April 2017. Zenith Construction Ltd, whose waste was illegally tipped by the defendant, later paid for its removal as a goodwill gesture to the farmer.

Phil Butterworth of the Environment Agency said:

This prosecution is a timely reminder to businesses and home owners to ask three simple questions when getting someone in to dispose of their waste.

Is the person registered with the Environment Agency as a waste carrier – ‘ask for proof’’? Where do they intend to take the waste and can they provide a receipt? If they can’t provide satisfactory answers to these questions, don’t hand over your waste.

Appearing before Exeter Crown Court for sentencing on Tuesday 6 March 2018, Connor Calam, of Seaview Avenue, Lipson, Plymouth was fined £2,000 for breaching a suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay £2,500 costs. He was also made the subject of a 12-month community order, ordered to pay £260 compensation to Zenith Construction Ltd plus an £85.00 victim surcharge.

His Honour Judge Ralls QC said ‘Fly-tipping in a beautiful part of the country is a serious matter’ and warned the defendant he’d escaped being sent to prison ‘by the skin of his teeth.’

The sentencing followed an earlier hearing where the defendant was found guilty of disposing of controlled waste on land at Pudson Farm, Okehampton between 10 and 27 February 2017 without an environmental permit contrary to Section 33 of the Environment Protection Act 1990.



Press release: Man who bit off a piece of his victim’s ear has sentence increased

A man who bit off a piece of his victim’s ear has had his sentence increased after the Solicitor General appealed it for being too low.

Leon Smith attacked his victim, who was known to him, while he sat in his parked car in July 2016. Smith opened the driver’s door and shouted at the victim to get out and when the victim refused the offender kicked the victim in the mouth. Smith then kicked the car door and reached in and grabbed the victim’s face and forced his thumb into the victim’s eye. The victim was able to force the offender’s hand away and at that point the offender bit the victim’s ear, ripping off a piece of the ear.

Smith was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and originally sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment suspended for 2 years at Lewes Crown Court. Today, after the Solicitor General’s action, the sentence was increased by the Court of Appeal to 4 years and 8 months immediate custody.

Speaking after the hearing the Solicitor General, Robert Buckland QC MP, said:

“This was a vicious attack on a defenceless victim which will have lasting consequences. I am pleased that the Court has today increased Smith’s sentence and I hope it brings some comfort to his victim.”



News story: Annual Safety Review 2017 published

The Annual Safety Review for 2017 contains information on the AAIB’s activity during 2017 and includes an overview of the 29 Safety Recommendations and Safety Actions published in the 39 field and 220 correspondence investigation reports during the year.

It also includes statistical information on the accident causal factors established by AAIB investigations across the aviation industry. To complement this, there is an AAIB general aviation fatal accident review which looks at the causal trends and has links to further research papers, regulatory advice and other useful sources of information for the private aviator. There is also an article on human factors in accident investigation and how the AAIB is developing its capability in this important field.



Press release: New government action to create stronger, more integrated Britain

  • £50 million to support new Integrated Communities Strategy
  • strategy includes bold proposals to boost English language skills, increase opportunities for women and promote British values in education

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid today (14 March 2018) set out an ambitious long-term plan of action to tackle the root causes of poor integration and create a stronger, more united Britain.

The Integrated Communities Strategy green paper, to which £50 million will be committed over the next 2 years, seeks views on the government’s bold proposals to boost English language skills, increase opportunities for more women to enter the workplace, and promote British values and meaningful discussion between young people.

Britain is on the whole, a well-integrated society, with 85% of people reporting a feeling of belonging strongly to Britain.

But the evidence, including Dame Louise Casey’s independent review into opportunity and integration, overwhelmingly points to a significant number of communities being divided along race, faith or socio-economic lines.

This reduces opportunities for people to mix with others from different backgrounds, allows mistrust and misunderstanding to grow, and prevents those living in isolated communities from taking advantage of the opportunities that living in Britain offers.

The strategy sets out a range of actions the government plans to take to bring divided communities together, including:

Boosting English language skills

We are proposing a new strategy to promote adoption of the English language across all communities in England, including a new community-based English language programme, a new network of conversation clubs, and support for local authorities to improve the provision of English language tuition for those who need it most.

Increasing economic opportunity, particularly for women

Jobcentre Plus will trial new approaches to support people from some of the most isolated communities into work through personalised skills training to address their individual needs.

Ensure that every child receives an education that prepares them for life in modern Britain

New proposals to ensure young people have the opportunity to mix and form lasting relationships with those from different backgrounds, promotion of British Values across the curriculum and increased take up of the national citizen service.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said:

Britain can rightly claim to be one of the most successful diverse societies in the world. But we cannot ignore the fact that in too many parts of our country, communities are divided, preventing people from taking full advantage of the opportunities that living in modern Britain offers.

Successive governments have refused to deal with the integration challenges we face head on, preferring to let people muddle along and live isolated and separated lives.

We will put an end to this through our new strategy which will create a country that works for everyone, whatever their background and wherever they come from. Integration challenges are not uniform throughout the country, with different areas and communities having varying needs.

The government will work with 5 ‘Integration Areas’ to develop local integration plans: Blackburn with Darwen; Bradford; Peterborough; Walsall and Waltham Forest.

These 5 local authorities have already demonstrated a keen grasp of the challenges they face and shown a desire to try new things and learn from what works. Learning from these areas about what works – and, just as importantly, what doesn’t work – will be shared more widely as the programme develops.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds said:

We want to make sure that all children learn the values that underpin our society – including fairness, tolerance and respect. These are values that help knit our communities together, which is why education is at the heart of this strategy.

It’s also important that children are taught in a safe environment and that we can act quickly if children are at risk or being encouraged to undermine these values. Together, with Ofsted and communities across the country, we will build on the work already underway to achieve this.

We want to start a debate on the Integrated Communities Strategy, to find the most effective ways to address integration challenges. The consultation will run for 12 weeks to 5 June 2018.

Further measures included as part of the Integrated Communities Strategy:

Building stronger leadership

The strategy calls on leaders in national and local government, business and civil society to ensure all services have a strong focus on integration.

We will provide a package of practical information for recent migrants in our integration areas to better help them understand and navigate British life, values and culture. We will also improve communities’ ability to adapt to migration and manage pressures on local services and amenities in order to promote more effective integration.

Respecting and promoting equal rights

The strategy sets out new measures to empower marginalised women, including exploring reform of the law on marriage and religious weddings. We will support training of faith leaders to practice in the British context understanding British culture and shared values. We will also strengthen action to tackle hate crime and encourage greater reporting of incidents.

Building vibrant communities

An Integration Innovation Fund will be introduced to allow organisations to bid to test out new approaches to bring people from different backgrounds together and we will make better use of shared community spaces such as parks and libraries.

See the Integrated Communities Strategy.

To deliver the vision set out in this strategy we recognise that we need to talk to individuals and communities to hear what they think the key issues are and how communities and local and national government can tackle them. The consultation period will run for 12 weeks.

85% of respondents felt that they belonged ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ strongly to Britain. Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Community Life Survey 2016-17.