East Sussex pair sentenced for part in baled waste dumping
Source: gov.uk (2025-10-09)

None of the sites used to store baled waste had any relevant environmental permissions.

Two East Sussex men have been given suspended sentences for their roles in the illegal dumping of baled waste between April 2018 and October 2018 at two sites in Sussex and Kent.

Following the Environment Agency prosecution, Clifford Wake, 65, of Grosvenor Road, Seaford, was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment suspended for 18 months with a requirement to complete 240 hours unpaid work to run concurrently on both matters. He was also ordered to pay costs of £1,000 to be paid over 12 months and a victim surcharge.

58-year-old Gary Wilmshurst, also known as George Stewart, of Churchfield, Westfield, Hastings was sentenced to 35 weeks imprisonment suspended for 18 months. He was also ordered to pay costs of £500 to be paid over 6 months and a victim surcharge.

Guilty pleas to waste crime

Wake pleaded guilty to two counts under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, in that he knowingly caused the deposit of waste at two sites, a former railway yard in Kent and Upper Lodge Farm near Lewes.

Wilmshurst pleaded guilty to one count under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, in that he knowingly caused the deposit of waste at Upper Lodge Farm near Lewes.

The men were sentenced at Lewes Crown Court on Tuesday 7 October after entering guilty pleas.

Plastic grass, mattresses and more wrapped in bundles

The material found within the baled waste was found to contain non-recyclable materials, mostly builders waste and plastics, but also items from house clearances such as mattress and foam, as well as artificial grass.

1,534 bales totalling 997.4 tonnes of waste were deposited at the Bombardier site, and an estimated 180 tonnes of waste were deposited at Upper Lodge Farm.

Waste at the Bombardier site

None of the sites which were used to store baled waste had any relevant environmental permissions.

An Environment Agency spokesman said:

We will pursue and bring before the courts those involved in waste crime which seriously blights communities and the environment, no matter how long it takes.

Two men from East Sussex have been charged with knowingly causing the deposit of waste at two sites in Southern England.

Background

The Environment Agency accepted pleas on the following:
- Knowingly causing the deposit of controlled waste contrary to section 33(1)(a) and (6) and 157 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Clifford Wake on or between 16 April 2018 and 17 August 2018, at the former Bombardier site in Beaver Lane, Ashford, Kent, TN23 4YW, knowingly caused the deposit of controlled waste on land without an environmental permit authorising the deposit being in force
- Knowingly causing the deposit of controlled waste contrary to section 33(1)(a) and (6) and 157 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Clifford Wake on or between 01 September 2018 and 31 October 2018 at Upper Lodge Farm, the Broyle, Ringmer, BN8 5AP, knowingly caused the deposit of controlled waste on land without an environmental permit authorising the deposit being in force.
- Knowingly causing the deposit of controlled waste contrary to section 33(1)(a) and (6) and 157 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Gary Wilmshurst on or between 01 September 2018 and 31 October 2018, at Upper Lodge Farm, the Broyle, Ringmer, BN8 5AP, knowingly caused the deposit of controlled waste on land without an environmental permit authorising the deposit being in force.