SKIP HIRE BOSSES’ £292K BILL
Proceeds of crime order will help pay for site clean-up
THREE owners of a skip hire business, who were jailed after officials found they were storing more waste than allowed on their yard, had a criminal benefit of £1.5m, it was agreed yesterday.
An order has now been made under the Proceeds of Crime Act that they must pay various amounts which will be used to help pay for clearing the site.
Joseph Benedict Gaffey was ordered to pay £92,102, Patricia Gaffey was ordered to pay £86,729, and Michael Gaffey was ordered to pay £113,293.
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) officers found Porthmadog Skip Hire – based at the town’s Penamser Industrial Estate – had huge stockpiles of waste which posed potential risks to individuals, businesses and the environment.
Drone footage showed huge piles of waste covering the entire site, prompting complaints from businesses and Porthmadog town council.
The cost of the clean-up, estimated at £350,000, fell on the public purse, a court was told.
At a financial hearing at Mold Crown Court, Judge Rhys Rowlands made an agreed order under which the three defendants were ordered to pay their financial orders within three months.
In default, Michael Gaffey was ordered to serve 15 months imprisonment and the other two 12 months.
It was agreed that the money when paid would be used as compensation for Natural Resources Wales.
Prosecuting barrister Michael Stables said NRW would then be able to refund the Welsh Government of the cost of clearing the site so that the public purse would not be out of pocket.
It had been agreed that NRW would be given access to the land for the site to be cleared.
Mr Stables said the figures had been agreed on the basis of a potential value of the sale of the company assets at auction, and personal assets.
After the auction, the figures may need to be adjusted, he explained.
A two-day hearing had been set aside to resolve the issues and the judge congratulated all parties for their work so that the order could be made by consent.
Carolina Bracken, for Patricia Gaffey, said access to the site for clearing purposes was dependent upon crossing land owned by the father of the three defendants. Her client would do noth- ing to prevent access being gained.
Matthew Curtis, for Michael Gaffey, said that as part of the agreement the prosecution would not seek the £1.5m figure – which he described as academic – should the defendants come into money in the future.
Last March, the defendants were jailed for 10 months.
Judge Rowlands said at the time: “You quite blatantly ignored the restrictions placed upon your permit and ignored warnings and continued to receive vast amounts of waste.
“Such behaviour is sadly not that uncommon.
“What makes this unusual in my experience is that despite you appearing before a court you continued to breach the permit.”
Following the hearing, a spokesperson for NRW said: “Waste sites have a permit setting out rules which they have to follow so they don’t pose a risk to the environment and local people.
“We always try to work with businesses to make sure they comply with the conditions in their permit.
“But, in cases like this, when a business was given every opportunity to comply with the conditions in their permit but fail to do so, we must take legal action to ensure the safety of the local environment, community and the interests of legitimate operators.
“The settlement reached today means that we can recoup some of the cost to the tax payer of cleaning up this site in Porthmadog which is considered to pose a risk of serious pollution and a risk to human health.”