Prison an Option for Tyre Dumping Threesome

Tyre dumping doesn’t pay, especially the dumping of 175,883 tyres and 290 tonnes of tyre wire. This is the total quantity illegally disposed of by a Welsh trio, who are now each facing up to five years in prison and a substantial fine for their illicit deeds. The South Wales Echo reports that Geraint Evans, 52, his partner Marilyn Hanks, 36, and accomplice Norman Cassidy face jail and an ‘unlimited’ fine after admitting to various charges at Cardiff Crown Court on November 6.

A six-month, cross-border environment agencies investigation revealed the three dumpers had dispatched waste tyre product to four sites in Wales and England. The dumped tyres had been collected from garages and then stored in rented warehouses before being ‘released into the wild’, and Environment Agency Wales believes the illegal scheme way have netted the trio about £115,000.

Evans and Cassidy admitted charges of knowingly causing controlled waste to be deposited and keeping controlled waste on land where there was no waste management licence in force. Hanks pleaded guilty to “consenting or conniving” in the commission of the offences while acting as a director and secretary of a company.

Sentencing will take place on November 25, and in the meantime all three have been granted bail on the proviso that they remain at their fixed addresses. The judge who will pass sentence, Stephen Hopkins QC, has already warned that “all sentencing options are open, including custody, so you must not infer anything from the granting of bail at this time.”

The bill for removing the dumped tyres is estimated to be around £122,000.