Serial fly-tipper ordered to pay £1.4m after dumping over 4,000 tonnes of waste across Britain

The EA investigation uncovered a network of 16 illegal dumping sites, including a manor house in Surrey, a farm in Lincolnshire and a warehouse in Kent.

The total weight of the waste dumped climbed to an astonishing 4,275 tonnes - roughly equivalent to the weight of 600 African elephants.

Datta, of Little Chester Street, London, must pay £1,116,432.78 under a Confiscation Order, £100,000 in compensation and £200,000 in prosecution costs.

He also received a four-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months, 30 days of rehabilitation and 200 hours of unpaid work.

The court heard Datta became a registered waste broker through his company, Atkins Recycling Ltd, in 2015.

Judge Paul Farrar KC, who described the crime as "reckless", said he falsely claimed waste was being sent to a permitted site near Sheffield; instead, it was being diverted to unlicensed dumps across the country.

"Smell and flies were a feature at some of the illegal sites and caused a localised adverse effect to air quality," Mr Farrar said.

Landowners were "forced to incur substantial costs in removing the illegal waste", he added.

In 2018, the EA seized £131,520 in cash from Datta's home address.

After pleading not guilty in 2023, he changed his plea to guilty in June last year.

Datta's case involved the prosecution of two other men; Mohammed Saraji Bashir, from Peterborough, who was also given a four-month suspended prison sentence, unpaid work and period of rehabilitation, and Robert McAllister, from north London, who was fined £750.

It is alleged that an associate, Sandeep Golechha, 55, of Wheatley Close, London, helped to falsify weighbridge documents to cover up the illegal acts.

The EA said warrants for the arrest of two other men are still active.

Emma Viner, Enforcement and Investigations Manager in the Environment Agency’s National Environmental Crime Unit described the case as "appalling".

She said: "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."

The £100,000 in compensation Datta has been ordered to pay relates to a dumping at a former Mills Factory 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.

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."