Waste boss fined for 'revenge' dumping over unpaid invoice
Timothy Burcham was owed £6,000 for waste removed from a mobile home park in Paignton. But the company that owned it went into administration before paying him.
Some of the waste dumped by Burcham because his bill wasn't paid
Timothy Burcham, a licensed waste operator, dumped waste at a Paignton mobile home park in revenge for not being paid for a job there. He now has to pay a fine and costs totalling over £3,000.
Burcham, aged 70, of Hollam Way, Kingsteignton, was the sole owner of Medway Waste Solutions and appeared before Newton Abbot magistrates on 21 November 2024 where he admitted a charge of depositing controlled waste at a site which had no environmental permit.
In a case brought by the Environment Agency, the court heard that in July 2023, Burcham removed waste from a caravan at Falcon Park Residential Home Park in Paignton. He invoiced the site owners, Falcon Park Ltd, nearly £6,000, but the company went into liquidation before paying.
Burcham contacted the new site owners, LT Management Services Ltd, who indicated they would try to help secure payment from the liquidators. They also contracted Burcham’s company with another job on site, paying around £14,900.
However, Burcham sent an email in November to LT Management Services Ltd’s director of operations, stating that if the outstanding debt was not paid he would return and deposit waste on site, as set out in his terms of service. A few days later, after sending harassing texts to a number of people working at the site demanding payment, he carried out his threat.
Waste was dumped on three separate occasions in car parks on the site. It was not the same waste that had been removed from site originally, but from other places including a house clearance, building waste, roof tiles confirmed by laboratory testing as containing asbestos, food waste, garden furniture, black sacks, a mattress, cardboard boxes and waste from Burcham’s own premises. The police were called after a resident confronted Burcham and videoed his actions.
When interviewed by the Environment Agency, Burcham admitted depositing waste on the site after his invoice was not paid and that it was not the waste he had originally removed. He said he had made a mistake on his invoices by setting out his right to redeposit waste if his fees were not paid.
Burcham further accepted that the waste he had deposited from the house clearance included sensitive personal information, including a birth certificate and banking details. However, he refused to accept that he had deposited bags of tiles containing asbestos, though there were photographs showing the bags among the waste he admitted to having dumped. In all, it cost the site owners nearly £2,800 to have all of the waste removed.
Magistrates fined Burcham £243 and ordered him to pay costs of £2,953.49 and a £97 victim surcharge.
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said:
Despite being a licensed waste operator, Mr Burcham behaved in an unprofessional and unacceptable manner depositing waste illegally.
We hope he will now learn a lesson and work with proper regard for the environment, his customers and the waste industry.
Background
The charge:
Between 20 and 23 November 2023, you Timothy Burcham, did deposit controlled waste namely mixed domestic and commercial waste on open ground at Falcon Park Residential Park Home, Totnes Road, Paignton, Devon, when there was no environmental permit in force authorising such deposits. Contrary to section 33(1)(a) and (6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, as amended.