Long Bennington waste site: 12-strong gang ordered to repay £112,338 after toxic fumes expose village
Proceeds-of-crime ruling follows sentencing that saw 12 defendants jailed and a massive clean-up bill for the Environment Agency.
Long Bennington, Lincolnshire — A gang of 12 men behind a secret illegal waste site near a Lincolnshire village has been ordered to pay back £112,338 under the Proceeds of Crime Act. The order comes after the group were jailed for operating the site that exposed residents to toxic fumes and caused harm in the village last year. Prosecutors said the operation earned about £500,000 by dumping and processing tens of thousands of tonnes of waste over seven months.
The site, roughly the size of a football pitch, saw lorries deliver shredded waste daily, which was burned and buried to hide the operation. Shocking footage helped the Environment Agency nail the gang by capturing waste being incinerated and smoke billowing from the site. The investigation spanned months and culminated in a raid in April 2020 carried out with Lincolnshire Police.
Authorities say 12 people and one company were charged with either knowingly operating the illegal waste site or depositing waste. Ten pleaded guilty and three were found guilty after an eight-week trial at Nottingham Crown Court. Last October, the group was collectively sentenced to 11 years in prison. His Honour Judge Coupland condemned the acts as highly harmful, noting that the crime was deliberately concealed with falsified paperwork and that repeated operations to profit from the scheme intensified the harm to residents.
The proceedings last Friday issued confiscation orders against individual defendants and a business tied to the scheme. Among those ordered to forfeit proceeds were waste broker Robert Malone, who was fined £1,165 and given a confiscation order for £45,948; Daniel Lippitt, an operator who deposited waste at the site, with a confiscation order of £10,000; Luke Woodward and Sonial Surpal, lorry drivers, with £1,111 and £16,511 respectively; site operative Nathan Jones, £1,180; and transport firm Fletcher Plant Limited, £37,587. In total, the defendants were ordered to surrender £112,338. Officials expect the clean-up at the site, which operated near homes for about seven months, to cost around £1.2 million.
The Environment Agency said it will now bring a Proceeds of Crime Award hearing against the main offenders, family members Paul, Judith and Joshua Canner, who ran the illegal site, along with landowners Marc Greenfield and James Baggaley, who knew the operation was taking place. Peter Stark, EA enforcement team leader, said waste crime blights communities and that it is right to recover ill-gotten gains. Leigh Edlin, EA area director for Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, added that this case shows the seriousness of illegal waste operations and the impact on legitimate businesses and local residents. Money from proceeds of crime hearings is used to strengthen tools and teams tackling waste criminals.
Officials urge anyone who suspects illegal waste activity to report it through the Environment Agency’s 24-hour hotline at 0800 80 70 60 or anonymously to Crimestoppers at 0800 555 111.