Court Of Appeal Judgment Shows Environmental Offences Will Be Taken Seriously By The Courts

• Published date: 08 June 2021
• Subject Matter: Environment, Environmental Law
• Law Firm: Walker Morris
• Author: Ms Alison Ogley and David Monteith

A Court of Appeal judgment highlights the issues which arise when sentencing environmental offences, and shows that environmental offending will be taken seriously by the Courts.

R v Lawrence concerned convictions for a number of offences contained in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 relating to two fires at the premises of a skip hire company outside Kidderminster. The site was next to a canal and adjacent to a site of special scientific interest (SSSI). The defendant was the operations director of the family business which operated the site.

As a result of financial difficulties, the quantity of unsaleable waste kept on the site built up and, in December 2012, a fire broke out which took nine days to extinguish. The water required to fight the fire mixed with rain water and contaminants from the waste; the Environment Agency was able to prevent this entering the SSSI but polluted water was diverted into the canal.

A second fire broke out in June 2013 and continued to burn for more than a month, and around 5,000 tonnes of waste burned. A large quantity of polluted water ran into the canal and killed around 3,000 fish. The smoke produced had a 'significant adverse effect' on air quality in the local area which included a primary and a secondary school.

The Sentencing Council publishes definitive guidance to assist the Court in sentencing both individuals and organisations found guilty of environmental criminal offences. The Court is required to follow sentencing guidance unless satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.

The guidance requires the Court to take a number of steps to reach a sentence. It must first make an assessment of the offender's culpability (i.e. blameworthiness) as either deliberate, reckless, negligent or low. The Court must then make an assessment of harm caused by the offence; harm is categorised into categories 1-4 in descending levels of seriousness. Examples of category 2 harm are given in the guidance as 'significant adverse effect or damage to air or water quality' and 'significant adverse effect on human health or quality of life, animal health or flora'. The guidance then requires the Court to assess aggravating and mitigating factors, apply any discount for an early guilty plea, and make an assessment as to the totality of offending.

In relation to the 2012 fire, Mr Lawrence was sentenced to a fine of '270 on the basis...