A company boss who dumped more than 4,000 tonnes of waste across England has been ordered to pay £1.4million.
Varun Datta, 36, from London, had been a registered waste broker for his company, Atkins Recycling Ltd since 2015, a court heard.
Although he claimed the waste the company handled was being sent to a legal site near Sheffield, the loads were diverted to illegal dumps around the country.
The total weight of the waste dumped was about 4,275 tonnes – roughly the weight of 600 African elephants.
A nationwide investigation by the Environment Agency uncovered a network of 16 illegal dumping sites stretching from the south east to the north west.
Places the waste was dumped included a farm on the outskirts of Peterborough, a manor house at Ewhurst in Surrey, and a warehouse at Margate in Kent.
Datta must now pay £1.1 million, reflecting the financial benefit from his crimes, plus £100,000 in compensation and £200,000 in prosecution costs.
He was also given a four month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, as well as 30 days of rehabilitation and 200 hours of unpaid work.
In 2018, the Environment Agency seized £131,520 in cash from Datta’s home address and later, in 2022, a restraint order was applied to two bank accounts ensuring that any future confiscation order could be paid.
After initially pleading not guilty in 2023, Datta subsequently pleaded guilty in June 2025 to knowingly causing controlled waste to be deposited at 16 sites.
Judge Paul Farrah KC, who branded the offences as ‘reckless’, said: ‘Smell and flies were a feature at some of the illegal sites and caused a localised adverse effect to air quality.
‘[Landowners were] forced to incur substantial costs in removing the illegal waste.’
No environmental permit or valid exemption was in place at any of the sites, which were spread across Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Lancashire, Kent, Surrey, Rutland and Middlesborough.
It is alleged that an associate, Sandeep Golechha, 55, from London, helped to falsify weighbridge documents to cover up the illegal acts.
The case, heard at Birmingham crown court, also saw two others prosecuted.
Mohammed Saraji Bashir, from Peterborough, was given a four month suspended prison sentence, unpaid work and period of rehabilitation.
Robert McAllister, from north London, was fined £750. Warrants for the arrest of two other men are still active.
The £100,000 in compensation to be paid by Datta relates to the dumping at the former Sulzer Dowding Mills Factory site in Middlesbrough, as well as the Middleton Nature Reserve in Lancashire.
Middlesborough Council will receive £70,000 towards the cost of the clean-up, while £30,000 will be awarded to the Lancashire Wildlife Trust for the future management of the Middleton Nature Reserve.
Emma Viner, Enforcement and Investigations Manager in the Environment Agency’s National Environmental Crime Unit, said: ‘We are glad to see the perpetrators brought to justice in this appalling case.
‘Despite their attempts to conceal their criminality, our in-depth investigation spanning the length and breadth of the country ultimately uncovered those responsible.
‘We will never stop fighting to end the scourge of waste crime which scars our environment and communities.’
Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said: ‘This is a shocking case of illegal waste dumping, orchestrated by a group of shameless crooks who thought they could operate above the law.
‘I welcome the punishments secured by the Environment Agency – which send a clear message to criminals that they have nowhere to hide.
‘This government is committed to stamping out this type of criminality across the country by boosting funds to tackle waste crime and introducing tougher checks and penalties for those who break the law.’
