Gang ran secret tip on Nottinghamshire border that filled village with 'toxic fumes'

Lorry-loads of shredded waste were regularly being dumped onto the site, which was the size of a football pitch, before being burned and buried

A gang made a fortune running a secret tip on the Nottinghamshire border that filled a village with toxic smoke. Nine people have been sentenced for operating an illegal waste site on the county's rural border with Lincolnshire that exposed locals at Long Bennington, near Newark, to potentially harmful fumes.

Environment Agency officers spent months building a picture of evidence of the illegal waste site on Fen Lane, Long Bennington, resulting in a joint raid with Lincolnshire Police in April 2020. Intelligence revealed lorry-loads of shredded waste were regularly being accepted onto the site the size of a football pitch, before being burned and buried.

This activity intensified during the first Coronavirus lockdown in March 2020, when another Environment Agency raid seized an excavator and a lorry as they arrived to dump more waste. A prosecution was brought against individuals who ran the illegal waste site, burned the waste, drove waste to the site, as well as the landowners and two waste brokers.

Judge Steven Coupland, who sentenced nine people involved in running the dangerous operation at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday, October 18, handed them a collective total of 11 years imprisonment. The judge outlined the illegal activity had been deliberately concealed physically and with falsified paperwork, with the nearby residents put at risk of harm from the toxic fumes produced.

The seriousness of the offences was aggravated due to the length of the illegal operations and by the amount of money the defendants gained, he added. The Canner family trio of father Paul, 53, mother Judith, 55, of Main Road, Bilstone, Nuneaton, and son Joshua, 29, of Laburnum Avenue, Newbold Verdon, ran the illegal waste site.

Paul Canner was sentenced today to 26 months in prison, while Judith and Joshua were each sentenced to 16 months. Other culprits were sentenced as follows:

• Sonial Surpal, 52, of Round House Road, Coventry, pleaded guilty to depositing waste at the site and was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court to 13 months’ immediate imprisonment.
• Luke Woodward, 37, of Willow Road, Nuneaton, pleaded guilty to depositing waste at the site and was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court to 11 months’ immediate imprisonment.
• Marcus Chapman, 39, of Egmanton Drive, Mansfield, pleaded guilty to disposing of the waste at the site and was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months. He has been ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work.
• Peter Wainwright, 32, of Dexter Lane, Hurley, Atherstone, Warwickshire, pleaded guilty to disposing of waste at the site and was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court to 16 months’ immediate imprisonment.
• Nathan Jones, 43, of Carnation Road, Shirebrook, Mansfield, pleaded guilty to disposing of waste at the site and was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court to 16 months’ immediate imprisonment.
• Daniel Lippitt, 55, of Lubbersthorpe Road, Leicester, pleaded guilty to depositing waste at the site and was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court to nine months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months. He has been ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work.

Leigh Edlin, Area Director for Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, said: "This was a serious illegal waste site which was highly organised and involved multiple offenders. Those involved sought to profit from Covid restrictions at the cost of the environment and by inflicting misery on the local community.

"The site and its operators had a major impact on legitimate businesses and our regulatory work. Our enforcement teams will continue to tackle serious illegal waste crime by working with partners such as Lincolnshire Police, fire services and councils, as we did in this case to hold those responsible to account."

Four more defendants, including the landowners, will be sentenced at a later date. Proceeds of crime proceedings have commenced against all 13 defendants, meaning that their ill-gotten gains will likely be seized.