A man convicted of running a rogue waste transfer station in West Yorkshire - just yards from village homes - has been ordered to pay almost £70,000 in a confiscation order handed down by the courts.
The Proceeds of Crime proceedings against Mark Butterworth come almost 20 years after he admitted a string of environmental offences at Springwood Mills in Cornholme, near Todmorden, in Calderdale.
In May 2010, Butterworth pleaded guilty to 11 environmental offences committed between February 2007 and January 2008 at the Mills’ Pudsey Road site.
A year later he was ordered to pay £71,960.50 but only had £2,000 available at the time.
Now, 15 years later and following action by the Environment Agency, he has been ordered to repay the outstanding amount of £69,960.50.
The recent proceedings were brought to revisit that confiscation order and increase the amount recoverable.
On October 2, Bradford Crown Court found that Butterworth’s continuing ownership of Springwood Mills, through long leases on two parcels of land, meant he had sufficient assets to pay.
His Honour Judge Christopher Smith observed: “If I remember rightly the two plots, which I have adjudged to be his, are worth it is said by the Environment Agency more than the outstanding amount.”
He said the available amount exceeded the benefit figure and ordered Butterworth to repay the outstanding £69,960.50 within three months.
He faces 12 months in prison if he does not.
Barrister Ryan Donoghue, representing Butterworth, said: “At present it is hoped on Mr Butterworth’s part that he is able to avoid selling the property in question.”
In making the order, Judge Smith told Butterworth: “I am ordering that you have confiscated from you – in other words, that you need to pay – the sum of £69,960.50.
“That must be paid within the next three months, in default of which you could have to serve up to 12 months in prison.
“It is important you engage with the order. I know you will. And your solicitor will help you to find the money to negotiate either the re-mortgaging or sale of these plots so that the money is in the bank account within three months.
“If it is not then there are those risks [of jail].”
The confiscation order comes 13 years after the Environment Agency uncovered a string of irregularities at Springwood Mills.
Not only did the company not have permits to sift through waste but it stored skips on neighbouring streets in a bid to divert attention from the mill.
Prosecutors said that waste was also stored at a separate site in Eldon Street, Todmorden, as far back as October 2010.
Agency bosses said Springwood Trading, the trading arm, was permitted to collect waste skips for delivery to authorised sites.
But Butterworth continued to operate the illegal operation despite receiving a 2010 conviction for the same offence.
He claimed he was not directly involved with the running of the company at the time.
Butterworth, then living in Mytholmroyd, near Hebden Bridge, admitted two charges of knowingly permitting the operation of a waste facility without an appropriate permit.
He was also found guilty of four offences of operating a regulated facility without a permit, three of depositing controlled waste, and one of failing to provide waste transfer notes after being served notice to do so.
In July 2013 following a trial, Mark Butterworth was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.
Speaking after the case, Paul Glasby, an EA environmental crime officer, said those who “repeatedly flout the rules” will be prosecuted.
In relation to Butterworth’s confiscation proceedings, an Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We are holding environmental offenders to account.
“Through the Waste Crime Action Plan, we are strengthening enforcement and pursuing the proceeds of crime to ensure criminals cannot profit from breaking environmental laws.
“Our action in this case secured the repayment of almost £70,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act, sending a clear message that environmental crime does not pay.”