Liverpool waste yard boss ordered to pay £250,000 for illegally storing and burning rubbish
A woman who ran a waste yard where rubbish was illegally stored and burned, has been ordered to pay £250,000 after the conclusion of a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing at Liverpool Crown Court.
After she was previously jailed in March 2022 for operating MWM Recycling Ltd illegally, Patricia Hills, 72, of Redfern Street, Bootle, was subject to a confiscation hearing on Monday September 1. Hills was given three months to pay the £250,000 order or she faces up to three years in jail. Hills was also ordered to pay £25,000 costs.
On Tuesday (March 22, 2022) Patricia Hills and her son, Mark Hills both received prison sentences after they admitted a number of waste crime offences in relation to the management of MWM Recycling Ltd in Kirkdale.
Patricia Hills was jailed for one year and her son Mark was jailed for eight months. The Environment Agency (EA) said Patricia Hills controlled MWM Recycling Ltd and that her son was responsible for its day-to-day running.
EA confirmed at the time of the conviction, it would be pursuing a POCA hearing in an attempt to confiscate assets it thinks were linked to crime. The EA added it was forced to revoke MWM’s environmental permit due to a number of breaches. But despite the warnings, waste continued to be stored and illegally burnt at the Redfern Street site.
Patricia Hills pleaded guilty to five offences in 2022, including failing to comply with environmental permit conditions and knowingly permitting the deposit of controlled waste. Mark Hills pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to comply with environmental permit conditions.
After more than three years, the EA successfully prosecuted Patricia Hills at a POCA hearing last week, who was found to have profited from illegal waste crime. The Environment Agency previously secured a confiscation order against Mark for £40,000 in December 2024, and this has since been paid.
Jeni Brittlebank, Area Environment Manager for the Environment Agency, said: “This sends out a message to the industry that waste crime does not pay and not only will we hit people with court action, but we’ll hit them in the pocket.
“Illegal waste operations carried out in the interests of profit are at the expense of the environment, put communities at risk and undermine legitimate businesses that work within the law. We’ll continue to disrupt and take action against those operating outside the regulations.”