{"id":60468,"date":"2015-08-18T09:13:55","date_gmt":"2015-08-18T09:13:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=ee415d631d8303ae82d9128bb958523e"},"modified":"2015-08-18T09:13:55","modified_gmt":"2015-08-18T09:13:55","slug":"press-release-350000-payback-for-illegal-waste-site-crimes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=60468","title":{"rendered":"Press release: \u00a3350,000 payback for illegal waste site crimes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Darlington man has been ordered to pay back \u00a3350,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act \u2013 one of the biggest seizures for the Environment Agency in the North East. <\/p>\n

And Tony Leigh Shepherd could have to pay back just under \u00a31.2 million \u2013 the agreed benefit sum of his criminal activities \u2013 if he comes into future assets. <\/p>\n

Shepherd, 41, of Winston, pleaded guilty to two offences of operating an illegal waste site at West Musgrave Farm, St Helen Auckland, between August 2009 and March 2011. <\/p>\n

He also pleaded guilty to a third charge of operating an illegal waste site at Barrier Works, Hackworth Industrial Estate, Shildon, between December 5, 2010, and July 8, 2011. <\/p>\n

He had been running a waste transfer facility on the land \u2013 illegally depositing, sorting and storing mixed household and industrial waste. <\/p>\n

On February 24, 2014, he appeared at Teesside Crown Court where he was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years. <\/p>\n

Environment Agency officers then began proceedings to recover the value of his available assets that it\u2019s believed was obtained through crime. <\/p>\n

On Monday, August 17, following a confiscation hearing at Teesside Crown Court under the Proceeds of Crime Act, Shepherd was ordered to pay back \u00a3350,000.<\/p>\n

He could face a prison sentence if he fails to pay. <\/p>\n

And if he comes into future assets he could have to pay back more of the \u00a31.168million agreed benefit sum. <\/p>\n

The Environment Agency\u2019s Waste and Enforcement Manager for the North East, Andrew Turner, said: <\/p>\n

\n

This is a significant confiscation order and sends out the message to others who flout the law that waste crime does not pay.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

They will not only be hit with court action but they\u2019ll also be hit in the pocket. This is a debt for life for Shepherd as any assets in the future could go towards paying back the full amount.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Waste crime undermines legitimate businesses and can have significant detrimental impacts on communities and the environment.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

This hearing demonstrates how seriously we take waste crime and we\u2019ll continue to take action against those operating outside of the law and the regulations.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A Proceeds of Crime investigation is still ongoing into Tony\u2019s father Raymond Shepherd, who managed Albert Hill Skip Hire in Dodsworth Street, Darlington. <\/p>\n

He was jailed for 18 months in December 2013 after being found guilty following a trial of operating a regulated facility without a licence, unlawfully depositing controlled waste and failing to comply with a suspension notice. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Darlington man Tony Shepherd handed confiscation order by Teesside Crown Court<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60468"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60468\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}