Prolific waste criminal ordered to pay more than £1.4m after dumping 4,000-plus tonnes of rubbish at sites across England, including one near Boston
A prolific waste criminal who dumped thousands of tonnes of rubbish across England – including at a site near Boston – has been ordered to pay more than £1.4 million.
The case against Varun Datta, 36, of Little Chester Street, London, concluded at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday, February 13.
It followed a nationwide investigation by the Environment Agency (EA) that uncovered a network of 16 illegal dumping sites, including one at Gill Bridge Farm, near Boston, and five others in Lincolnshire.
The court was told that Datta became a registered waste broker through his company, Atkins Recycling Ltd, in 2015, the EA said. He claimed the waste the company handled was being sent to a legal site near Sheffield, however, the loads were actually diverted to unlicensed dumps around the country, it added.
In 2018, the EA seized £131,520 in cash from Datta’s home address. In 2022, a restraint order was applied to two bank accounts ensuring that any future confiscation order could be paid. After pleading not guilty in 2023, Datta subsequently pleaded guilty in June 2025 to knowingly causing controlled waste to be deposited at 16 sites.
The total weight of the waste was about 4,275 tonnes – roughly the weight of 600 African elephants. It was mainly mixed municipal waste, wrapped in plastic to form bales.
At the conclusion of the case, Datta was ordered to pay more than £1.1 million by way of a Confiscation Order, reflecting the financial benefit from his crimes, plus a total of £100,000 in compensation to Middlesbrough Council and the Lancashire Wildlife Trust, and £200,000 in prosecution costs.
He was also given a prison sentence of four months, suspended for 18 months, as well as 30 days’ rehabilitation and 200 hours of unpaid work.
The case also involved the prosecution of two other men.
Mohammed Bashir, 45, of Windmill Street, Peterborough, had pleaded guilty for knowingly causing controlled waste to be deposited at three sites. He was given a prison sentence of four months, suspended for 18 months. He must also complete 30 days of rehabilitation activity and 200 hours of unpaid work.
Robert McAllister, 55, of Iveagh Close, Northwood, London, pleaded guilty for failing to comply with the duty of care imposed on brokers of waste, in relation to controlled waste that was deposited at two sites. He was fined £750.
The court was told that Bashir and McAllister acted as brokers, the EA said. They both failed to ensure that the waste transferred was going to permitted sites, it added.
Emma Viner, enforcement and investigations manager in the EA’s National Environmental Crime Unit, said: “We are glad to see the perpetrators brought to justice in this appalling case.
“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.”
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.”
The offences were branded ‘reckless’ by judge Paul Farrar KC, the EA said.
“Smell and flies were a feature at some of the illegal sites and caused a localised adverse effect to air quality,” he said, with landowners ‘forced to incur substantial costs in removing the illegal waste’.
The case followed the prosecution of two more waste criminals last year in relation to one of the sites, the EA said.
Warrants for the arrest of other men allegedly involved in the network are still active, it added.
Anyone who suspects illegal waste activity is asked to report it to the EA’s 24-hour hotline 0800 807060 or anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. The 16 sites:
- Conquest Drove, Farcet, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
- Trelawny House, Straight Drove, Farcet, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
- Yaxley Lodge Farm, Yaxley, Cambridgeshire
- Unit P, Continental Approach, Westwood Business Park, Margate, Kent
- Middleton Nature Reserve, Heysham, Lancashire
- Rhyddings Mill, Stonebridge Lane, Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire
- Peacock Farm, Muston, Leicestershire
- Gill Bridge Farm, Boston, Lincolnshire
- Sycamore Farm, Lower Bassingthorpe, Grantham, Lincolnshire
- The Drift, Sewstern, Grantham, Lincolnshire
- Humby Mills Farm, Grantham, Lincolnshire
- The Limes, Spalding, Lincolnshire
- Lime Tree Farm, English Drove, Thorney, Lincolnshire
- The Former Sulzer, Dowding and Mills Factory, Lower East Street, Middlesbrough
- Stockenhall Farm, Stretton, Rutland
- Somersbury Manor, Horsham Lane, Ewhurst, Cranleigh, Surrey