Pensioner's Poltimore piles prison punishment
Following a conviction for dumping more than 7,000 tonnes of waste near Exeter, Roger Baker was sent to prison this week for continually ignoring a court order to remove the waste.
Baker, 80, of Marsh Mill Court, Exeter, was convicted in August 2018 of dumping 7,514 tonnes of waste at Pynes Farm, Poltimore, and ordered by magistrates to remove it all to a permitted site by September 2019.
But, in a case brought by the Environment Agency, Exeter magistrates heard on 7 February that five years on, Baker still had not removed any of the waste. An officer from the Environment Agency went to the site last month and found all the waste still in place with little sign Baker had any intention of complying.
After pleading guilty to failing to comply with a regulation 44* notice to remove the waste to a permitted site, Exeter magistrates sentenced Baker to six weeks’ imprisonment, along with costs of £4,731.
Following the hearing, Richard Tugwell, an environment officer for the Environment Agency, said:
Baker showed a flagrant disregard for the environment and repeatedly ignored the court order requiring him to remove the waste.
The court made it clear it still expected Baker to remove the waste after he is released from prison.
Background
*Regulation 44 of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.