Co Antrim man given suspended sentence and ordered to pay Pound 101k for waste offences at illegal Bushmills site
Date published:
A Confiscation Order totaling Pound 101,682.66 has been granted at Antrim Crown Court today against Mr. Alan Chestnutt (53) of Haw Road, Bushmills, Co Antrim relating to environmental offending.
In addition, Mr. Chestnutt was sentenced in relation to three offences contrary to the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 to 10 months imprisonment on two counts and four months on a further count, to run concurrently, suspended for three years.
In 2017 officers of the Northern Ireland Environment Ageny's (NIEA) Environmental Crime Unit (ECU) commenced an investigation into the illegal disposal and keeping of controlled waste on lands under the control of Alan Chestnutt in the vicinity of Cabragh Road, Bushmills. The waste discovered consisted of household, commercial and industrial waste.
Following the NIEA investigation, Mr. Chestnutt pleaded guilty on 04 October 2023 to offences contrary to Article 4 of the Waste and Contaminated Land (NI) Order 1997. A number of further charges were left on the books. The criminal benefit generated from his offending was calculated to be Pound 101,682.66.
Today a Confiscation Order was granted by the Crown Court totalling Pound 101,682.66.
The Confiscation Order granted equates to the criminal benefit generated by Mr. Chestnutt the illegal depositing and keeping of controlled waste at the site in the vicinity of Cabragh Road, Bushmills, Co Antrim.
Mr. Chestnutt was granted six months to pay the Confiscation Order. A default sentence of one year imprisonment was also granted should Mr. Chestnutt fail to pay the Confiscation Order.
