2 brothers and father pay over £50,000 in confiscation orders
Source: gov.uk (2025-06-17)

The Environment Agency has successfully secured confiscation orders for over £50,000 for storing illegal material on a site in Skegness, Lincolnshire.

A Proceeds of Crime Act case was completed at Leeds Crown Court on Friday 13 June 2025.

This followed the prosecution of the trio for failing to comply with an environmental permit between June 2015 and April 2017.

On Friday (13 June), a confiscation order of £1,128 was imposed on Michael Todd, 65, of Leeds Road, Barwick-in-Elmet. He was given 3 months to pay or face a 6 week prison sentence.

At a previous hearing on February 17 2025, the court imposed the following confiscation orders on:

Thomas Todd, 36, of Steel Lane, Halifax, was ordered to pay £30,144.74 within 6 weeks or face an 8 month spell in prison.

His brother, Jamie Todd, 44, of Wakefield Road, Drighlington, Leeds, received an order for £19,336.87 within 3 months or face a 6 month period in prison.

Though the permit allowed for the processing of mixed waste, it required a fire prevention plan which was never properly implemented.

Inspections found that waste was being stacked too high and too closely together, creating a fire risk. The waste had also become a health risk following an influx of mice and a problem with flies.

As a result, the Environment Agency suspended the site’s permit, stopping new material from being brought in between December 2015 and February 2016. Despite the suspension, the Todds continued to operate.

Further visits officers between March and May 2016 found that there were no firebreaks between the waste.

The trio previously received these sentences:

In May 2023, Thomas and Jamie Todd were both sentenced to 8 months immediate custody and were disqualified from acting as a director of a business for 5 years.

In May 2023, Michael Todd was sentenced to a 12-month Community Order with 15 rehabilitation activity requirement (RAR) days and 100 hours of unpaid work. He was also disqualified from acting a company director for 5 years.

A fourth man, Bryan Walker, 62, of Beckhill Vale, Leeds, was given a 12-month community order with 10 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement Days. He was also disqualified from acting as a director of a business for 5 years.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said:

“The case shows that we’re not just content to prosecute those who run illegal waste sites, we’ll also come after them to get back the profits they made from their illegal activities and to recoup taxpayers’ money spent on pursuing them.

“Waste crime can have a serious environmental impact which puts communities at risk and undermines legitimate business and the investment and economic growth that go with it.

“We support legitimate businesses and we are proactively supporting them by disrupting and stopping the criminal element backed up by the threat of tough enforcement as in this case.

“We continue to use intelligence-led approaches to target the most serious crimes and evaluate which interventions are most effective.

“If you see or suspect waste crime is being committed we urge you to report it immediately to CrimeStoppers on xx-xxxx-xxxx.”