A judge has handed suspended jail terms to a father and son who ran an illegal scrap metal site in the Midlands.
Judge Mayo imposed six-month prison sentences, suspended for 18 months, on both 73-year-old Henry Thomas Allen and Lee Allen, 37. The pair were both registered to addresses in Bedford on Companies House.
The judge also required both to undertake 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days and pay £5,000 in costs and £128 as a victim surcharge.
The pair both pleaded guilty to operating without an environmental permit and handling waste in a manner likely to cause pollution.
Northampton Crown Court heard the Environment Agency had designated a scrap metal business in Station Road, Irthlingborough, which was run by the Allens’ business A6 Scrap Metals, as a site of concern. It was located in the River Nene flood plain and without the correct sealed, foul drainage system.
The site contained motor vehicle waste such as batteries, tyres, gas cannisters, fridges, freezers, fuel, oil and battery acid.
Sarah Dunne, the Environment Agency’s Solicitor Advocate, told the court that officers had made every effort to work with the Allens to bring the site into compliance with environmental law. But the firm had continued to accept, deposit and store large quantities of waste metals and became uncooperative, the watchdog claimed.
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “These people operated the site without the required permit which, as well as undermining the regulatory regime, also had an impact on lawful waste operators.”
According to Companies House, A6 Scrap Metals was dissolved in 2023.
