Imprisoned waste criminal ordered to spend further three years behind bars

An unrepentant waste crime boss has been sentenced to a further three years in prison, after failing to pay back the proceeds of his illegal waste business.

Hugh O’Donnell, 65, is still in prison serving a four and a half year sentence for waste crimes and money laundering, but was yesterday (30 May) jailed for an additional 1036 days at Westminster Magistrates Court. He had failed to pay the full amount of a £917,000 confiscation order – money he was ordered to repay for waste crimes he was convicted of in 2011.

Mr O’Donnell’s illegal waste business netted millions of pounds in profit by taking skips loads of construction and demolition waste to a site in Aldermaston, Berks, to be dumped in an illegal landfill.  He was first jailed in 2009 for possession of an illegal firearm, uncovered during an Environment Agency investigation, and then sent back to prison the day after his release in 2011 for money laundering and waste offences.

On 3 May 2012, Mr O’Donnell was ordered to pay the sum of £917,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act but still owes a total of £578,845.71, which he has refused to pay, winning him a further spell in prison.

Longest serving waste criminal

On completion of this third sentence, Mr O’Donnell will have served longer in prison than any other criminal for waste-related crimes.

Angus Innes, Prosecution Team Leader for the Environment Agency, said: “The Environment Agency wants to make sure that serious waste crime doesn’t pay, we don’t just catch criminals - we want to confiscate the assets they’ve gained from crime.

'This investigation has been one of the biggest and most complex ever undertaken by the Environment Agency and our partner agencies, in particular the London Regional Asset Recovery Team, to proactively target an organised criminal gang running an illegal waste site.

'This sentence sends out a message that failure to pay proceeds of waste crime is dealt with by the courts seriously and you can and will be sent to jail until the monies are paid in full.'

Hugh O’Donnell is the second waste criminal to be sent to prison this month. Amrik Johal, 55, was jailed for three years after he was stopped while boarding a flight to Delhi on May 16, 2013 without paying the full amount of a £881,513 confiscation order – money he needed to pay up for waste crimes he was convicted of in 2010.

CRS: Environment Make a Difference