Gloucester waste site director ordered to pay back more than £179,000

An illegal waste company director, Barry Connally, has been ordered to pay back over £179,000, obtained through proceeds of crime from his unlawful operations. Connally, 70, was the sole director of Rhino Recycling Limited, which operated a waste treatment facility on the QinetiQ Industrial Estate in Pershore, Worcestershire.

Between March 2013 and December 2015, he ran the facility without the necessary environmental permit. In June 2019 Connally was sentenced to 12 months' custody, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 160 hours' unpaid work in the community.

During the hearing, the judge found that Connally prioritised profit and adopted an “arrogant approach to the regulatory regime“. Following the sentencing, the Environment Agency went on to bring confiscation proceedings against Connally to recover the proceeds of crime. In passing a confiscation order, Worcester Crown Court heard that he used Rhino Recycling Limited's company persona to conceal his identity as the true actor in relation to the illegal waste operation.

It was found that between March 2013 and December 2015, Connally acquired more than £1m in criminal benefit from illegal waste operations. He was ordered to pay back £179,373.36, as it was the sum total of all his assets available.

Connally also pleaded guilty to contempt of court for disposing of a portion of his assets between September 2019 and July 2020, contrary to court orders forbidding him from doing so. For this, he was sentenced to four months' imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.

Following the sentencing, a spokesperson for the Agency said: “This 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.“

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