0:00:02 > 0:00:05A never-ending war is being waged across Britain
0:00:05 > 0:00:07to clean up our towns and countryside...
0:00:07 > 0:00:11I find it bad cos it's giving my home town a bad reputation.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13Oh, it's horrible. It's horrible.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16We should be proud of the area we live in.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20..from the tons of cigarette butts, dogs' mess and household rubbish,
0:00:20 > 0:00:23to mountains of tyres and skip-loads of builders' waste.
0:00:23 > 0:00:28Littering and waste is something we're finding is increasing year on year.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Seagulls come down, rip open the bags, and they're scattered everywhere.
0:00:31 > 0:00:35We're on the front line of the clear-up and the fight-back
0:00:35 > 0:00:39with the dedicated teams tracking down the rogues
0:00:39 > 0:00:42and putting the Great back into Britain.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45It may harm your defence if you fail to mention, when questioned,
0:00:45 > 0:00:48something which you later rely on in court.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52On today's programme, our filth-fighter meets a kindred spirit
0:00:52 > 0:00:55equally up in arms out on rubbish patrol.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59You get people just putting their household rubbish down here.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03You get fly-tipping down here. But you can see, it's not looking great.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07And the incredible chain of evidence that proves this van
0:01:07 > 0:01:10had dumped this rubbish. Busted!
0:01:10 > 0:01:14The road was completely blocked by the material that fell off.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18We do know that the last vehicle to come up the hill
0:01:18 > 0:01:21was the vehicle that dumped the rubbish.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25Welcome to the world of Filthy Rotten Scoundrels.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42Now, ladies and gentlemen, please be upstanding
0:01:42 > 0:01:47to meet Mr Hugh O'Donnell. This citizen wins the dubious honour
0:01:47 > 0:01:52of being crowned Britain's most serious environmental criminal.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54A man has been jailed for four years for dumping waste
0:01:54 > 0:01:57and for money laundering, in the biggest case ever brought
0:01:57 > 0:02:01by the Environment Agency. Thousands of tons of building waste
0:02:01 > 0:02:04was dumped at illegal sites, including one near Reading
0:02:04 > 0:02:06the size of five football pitches.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10In June this year, the royally rotten scoundrel
0:02:10 > 0:02:13landed himself the longest-ever prison sentence
0:02:13 > 0:02:17for a waste-related crime. O'Donnell had netted a huge amount of money
0:02:17 > 0:02:20by charging people to tip tons of construction waste
0:02:20 > 0:02:23at his unauthorised landfill site in Berkshire.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27Shame on you, Mr O'Donnell, and your ill-gotten gains!
0:02:29 > 0:02:33This particular case did not just involve waste crime.
0:02:33 > 0:02:38It involved an awful lot of money, over £5 million.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42It also involved stolen vehicles, a loaded firearm,
0:02:42 > 0:02:46and it has taken a team of people several years
0:02:46 > 0:02:48to get to the bottom of this.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51We noticed this big ugly fence going up
0:02:51 > 0:02:54that you couldn't see through.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56We were aware that things were going on in there,
0:02:56 > 0:03:01because we could see smoke from fires billowing out every night.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05He turned this site into the equivalent of a World War I war zone.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08O'Donnell, along with two associates,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11Robert Evans and Peter Lavelle, were responsible for setting up
0:03:11 > 0:03:14a vast illegal waste-processing operation.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18To have something as big as this on our doorstep
0:03:18 > 0:03:21was quite an amazing thing to find out.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25We actually gathered 9,000 pieces of evidence.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29We also took over 250 witness statements.
0:03:29 > 0:03:34This is the story of the UK's filthiest, rottenest scoundrel.
0:03:37 > 0:03:42Sally Coble is a senior manager with the Environment Agency.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46That's the government body which tracks down those responsible
0:03:46 > 0:03:48for the country's most serious environmental crimes.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52Her team has been on O'Donnell's case for years.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55He first started out as a licensed waste contractor,
0:03:55 > 0:03:58but he soon fell foul of the law.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02Here at this now-abandoned site at Theale in Berkshire,
0:04:02 > 0:04:04Sally's team first discovered vital clues
0:04:04 > 0:04:08about what O'Donnell had been getting up to in 2002 and 2003.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12When this site was in operation,
0:04:12 > 0:04:14he was bringing skip-loads of waste in here,
0:04:14 > 0:04:19sorting it, and some of it was sent away for recycling.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22Other parts were left on the site here.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25O'Donnell originally had the necessary permissions
0:04:25 > 0:04:28to sort waste here, but it shouldn't have remained on site.
0:04:28 > 0:04:33We had many reports of waste that shouldn't have been brought here
0:04:33 > 0:04:36being brought here and being burnt on site
0:04:36 > 0:04:40rather than recycled or sent away for landfill.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42It quickly became clear to Sally's team
0:04:42 > 0:04:45that they were dealing with a man who had a burning ambition
0:04:45 > 0:04:48when it came to waste. If he set fire to the lot,
0:04:48 > 0:04:51he wouldn't have to pay anyone to dispose of it properly -
0:04:51 > 0:04:55more money in his pocket, and a way of undercutting his rivals.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59To dispose of it in a legitimate manner would cost money,
0:04:59 > 0:05:03and so he was able to supply people with skips
0:05:03 > 0:05:07at a much cheaper price than the other operators in the area.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11Which in turn meant more and more rubbish coming his way.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13O'Donnell's penchant for pyromania,
0:05:13 > 0:05:17burning everything from building materials to plastic,
0:05:17 > 0:05:19didn't help the locals. They had to breathe their way
0:05:19 > 0:05:22through the scoundrel's smoke and soot.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26But what O'Donnell did next must have taken their breath away.
0:05:26 > 0:05:31We'd heard on the grapevine that he was having an event
0:05:31 > 0:05:33for Bonfire Night,
0:05:33 > 0:05:38and lo and behold, the night before Bonfire Night,
0:05:38 > 0:05:40there was this enormous bonfire here.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44And when Sally says "enormous", she really means it.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48The flames were so high, and the smoke from it drifted across
0:05:48 > 0:05:51over towards the M4 that's in that direction.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55Unbelievably, the police were forced to close the motorway,
0:05:55 > 0:05:59which was a mile away from O'Donnell's so-called bonfire.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03His actions were starting to have serious consequences for a lot of people.
0:06:03 > 0:06:08And then the Environment Agency discovered something a bit fishy
0:06:08 > 0:06:12about the lorries coming and going from the site.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14Take a close look at this number plate.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18OK. Let's continue our journey, and here's another of his lorries.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22And, hello! It's got exactly the same registration plate.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25Using false plates seemed to be just another weapon
0:06:25 > 0:06:28in O'Donnell's expanding and dodgy arsenal.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30And it became clear to the investigators
0:06:30 > 0:06:33that this case was much more sinister
0:06:33 > 0:06:36than just your average shady waste collector.
0:06:36 > 0:06:41In 2004, O'Donnell was fined £10,000 for burning rubbish
0:06:41 > 0:06:44and abusing his waste-management licence.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47It was then revoked. Now, you'd think that would be enough
0:06:47 > 0:06:51to stop the man. But oh, no. He just carried on regardless.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55The next year he got a whopping £36,000 fine
0:06:55 > 0:06:57for his failure to stop operating.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00That's a fair old whack in anyone's game,
0:07:00 > 0:07:03but it still wasn't enough to stop O'Donnell,
0:07:03 > 0:07:07so he was banged up, sentenced to six months in prison.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10But it didn't take a hair off him.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14He was not going to take any notice of us.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18He was going to flout the regulations wherever he could,
0:07:18 > 0:07:21because he knew he could make an awful lot of money out of it.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26Later in the programme, find out how O'Donnell went from bad to worse...
0:07:26 > 0:07:29All the time that he was in prison, he was planning
0:07:29 > 0:07:31where he would operate in the future.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35..how his illegal burning struck fear into local residents...
0:07:35 > 0:07:39We thought, "What's on fire? How big is it going to get?"
0:07:39 > 0:07:42..and how he secretly acquired a new piece of land
0:07:42 > 0:07:45where he caused utter devastation.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52To some, a job title with the word "enforcement" in it
0:07:52 > 0:07:56sounds like a harsh and bureaucratic busybody rushing around
0:07:56 > 0:07:59slapping fines on the unfortunate and undeserving
0:07:59 > 0:08:01and saying, "It's more than my job's worth."
0:08:01 > 0:08:05But you'd be wrong, and here in Lewisham in South London,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08there's someone who's the perfect example
0:08:08 > 0:08:12of everything that's positive about a little judicious arm-twisting -
0:08:12 > 0:08:15Peter Adams, head of fly-tipping enforcement.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17It's a constant battle. It's a war.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20It's a war to stop this fly-tipping happening.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23I love that. I love the excitement.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26I love getting out and dealing with these problems.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28That's why I love doing this job.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32Now, there's a man with passion. And he's also a man with courage,
0:08:32 > 0:08:34because this is what he's up against.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43And the locals are fed up.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46These sort of problems, fly-tipping and rubbish,
0:08:46 > 0:08:50it brings down the whole sort of sense of pride in the area.
0:08:50 > 0:08:55There's bins all along here, and they just drop their litter. They can't be bothered.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58It disgusts me that people get away with dumping their rubbish,
0:08:58 > 0:09:01whereas normal people have to pay for it
0:09:01 > 0:09:03or take it to the correct places.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06Case one today - a back alley
0:09:06 > 0:09:09where people are just dumping anything and everything.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12And here's a lady who's as passionate as Peter
0:09:12 > 0:09:14about keeping the place clean and tidy.
0:09:14 > 0:09:19You get people just putting their household rubbish down here,
0:09:19 > 0:09:21you get fly-tipping down here...
0:09:21 > 0:09:25At the moment, actually, saying, it's not too bad.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28- It's not good, though, is it? - It's not looking great.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31And you're right there. It's looking rubbish.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33We used to have a lot more bins as well,
0:09:33 > 0:09:36cos where I live, we don't have our own wheelie bins,
0:09:36 > 0:09:38because obviously they get stolen.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40Come again? Free wheelie bins stolen?
0:09:40 > 0:09:42That's extraordinary.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46We'll have a look. I'll send a team to see what bins should be here.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49On a daily basis, we have people coming along
0:09:49 > 0:09:53from all over the estate, and they put their household rubbish here.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57They just fly-tip here, and we have a bad problem with the foxes.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59At the moment there's not been any rodents,
0:09:59 > 0:10:02but it will happen, especially in the summer,
0:10:02 > 0:10:04because it really smells, as well.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08Urgh! Rancid, rotting food? Just what you don't want.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11But there's a problem. The alleyway is private land,
0:10:11 > 0:10:14so the council doesn't collect the rubbish from here.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18I've come out many a time and said to the actual dustbin-lorry man,
0:10:18 > 0:10:21"Oh, look, we've got lots of rubbish there,"
0:10:21 > 0:10:23- and he says, "They're not our bins." - No, they're not.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26So they can't...
0:10:26 > 0:10:29They're only protecting tax-payer and council-tax-payers' money.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33- They can't do other people's freebies for them, really.- No.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37- It costs an awful lot of money now to get rid of rubbish.- Yeah.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41But Peter's not the kind of man to give up and walk away - oh, no.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45He's a solution man, a clean-up man, a case-closed kind of man -
0:10:45 > 0:10:48just the sort of man we all love.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50There's an awful lot of businesses down here.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53- They might have the red bags. - These business, and that one bin.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56There's a bit of work to do here, I think, for myself,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59so I'll be making further visits until we can sort that out.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02- OK. That's fantastic. - Thank you very much.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04- Have a nice day.- Thank you.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08Ah, Peter, you're definitely making friends out on the beat.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12I do get angry, because when I've seen people dumping rubbish,
0:11:12 > 0:11:16I say to them, "Have you not got a wheelie bin of your own?"
0:11:16 > 0:11:18At the end of the day, we've got to live here,
0:11:18 > 0:11:21and the smell and everything, it gets really disgusting,
0:11:21 > 0:11:25and it doesn't make you feel good. The other residents aren't happy about it either.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28To make life better for the local residents,
0:11:28 > 0:11:31Peter's determined to crack down on the businesses
0:11:31 > 0:11:33who are skimping on rubbish collection.
0:11:33 > 0:11:38There seems to not be very many trade waste bins in the area.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41Effectively, if they're not paying for a trade waste bin,
0:11:41 > 0:11:44and they dump it in the rear alley behind their shop,
0:11:44 > 0:11:47that is fly-tipping.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50If these businesses don't have trade-waste arrangements
0:11:50 > 0:11:53or can't prove to me that they have, I'll serve some notices on them.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56If they then fail to respond to me
0:11:56 > 0:11:58with how they've got rid of their trade waste
0:11:58 > 0:12:02over the last year, I can then offer them a fixed-penalty notice
0:12:02 > 0:12:05or I can take them to court.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09Fighting talk, Peter! And he's not a man afraid to carry out a threat.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12We'll be back on the beat with him later,
0:12:12 > 0:12:15when he turns into a one-man evidence-gathering machine.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20It's not a local address. A receipt from one of the large companies.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24Another little piece there. A bit of a bank statement here.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26I've got somebody's business card.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34Remember Hugh O'Donnell? This scoundrel had set himself up
0:12:34 > 0:12:36as a trash tycoon in Berkshire,
0:12:36 > 0:12:38running a large waste-management site
0:12:38 > 0:12:41where he illegally burned rubbish.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45He was fined a total of £46,000 for his bad behaviour,
0:12:45 > 0:12:47and had his waste-management licence revoked,
0:12:47 > 0:12:50but he kept on burning anyway,
0:12:50 > 0:12:53and was eventually sentenced to six months in prison.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56He was not going to take any notice of us.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59He was going to flout the regulations wherever he could,
0:12:59 > 0:13:03because he knew he could make an awful lot of money out of it.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06By 2007, this king of the rubbish rogues
0:13:06 > 0:13:09was out of prison and as dangerous as ever.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13Whilst Mr O'Donnell was in prison,
0:13:13 > 0:13:16he was making arrangements for what was going to happen
0:13:16 > 0:13:21in the future. This was a person that was calculating,
0:13:21 > 0:13:27and had planned how he was going to deceive us.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31The Environment Agency had no idea that, rather than going legit,
0:13:31 > 0:13:34O'Donnell had already bought a new 12-acre site
0:13:34 > 0:13:36for £140,000,
0:13:36 > 0:13:40using an obscure Panamanian company called IMF.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44This land was just six miles from his original operation
0:13:44 > 0:13:47on the edge of the historic village of Aldermaston.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51Jean Chapman's garden is right next door to the site.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55We used to have a lovely walk over the back, through the woods.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59It was an old gravel workings, but it was all left to go natural,
0:13:59 > 0:14:01and there was lots of wild plants and flowers.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03All quite pleasant, really.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07O'Donnell's IMF site contained a beautiful wetland area
0:14:07 > 0:14:09and large patches of woods and grassland.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12So, why did he choose this place?
0:14:12 > 0:14:14He doesn't strike me as your typical nature-lover.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17Clive Verr, who works on a nearby industrial estate,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20has his own theory.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22The selection of the site was very clever
0:14:22 > 0:14:24because it's not visible from the road.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27Nobody really realised what was going on,
0:14:27 > 0:14:30because it was invisible from the local community.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33But for some reason, O'Donnell wanted even more privacy.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37We noticed this big ugly fence going up
0:14:37 > 0:14:42that you couldn't see through, and it just got bigger and bigger.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45This fence seemed to go further and further round.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48It was quite a fence - in fact, over eight feet high.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51It completely surrounded the 12-acre site.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55Anyone would think that O'Donnell was a man with something to hide.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59'He also put up signage to intimidate anybody
0:14:59 > 0:15:04'who was going to enter, including the Environment Agency staff.'
0:15:06 > 0:15:08Charming, I must say!
0:15:08 > 0:15:12We were very concerned about what was going on. On bank holidays,
0:15:12 > 0:15:15we'd see vast amounts of lorry traffic going in and out,
0:15:15 > 0:15:18so we knew that stuff was being dumped in there.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22But the big mystery was what all this stuff actually was.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24Lorries would arrive loaded with skips
0:15:24 > 0:15:27full of what looked like waste from construction sites,
0:15:27 > 0:15:29and they all left completely empty.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33And remember, O'Donnell didn't have any kind of environmental permit
0:15:33 > 0:15:36to dispose of waste here or anywhere else.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38Nobody knew what was going into the ground.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41It was like a reverse landfill, almost.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44It's a nice flat area, and it was being built up,
0:15:44 > 0:15:46and nobody seemed to be able to stop it.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49And things were about to get a whole lot worse.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51Wherever O'Donnell was concerned,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54there was never any smoke without fire.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57A couple of times we actually could see the bonfires -
0:15:57 > 0:16:00they were quite big - that were burning.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03You could see the smoke. We could actually see the red glow as well.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07A red glow? Sounds like an alien invasion.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10In reality it was just O'Donnell up to his old tricks again.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14To save himself a bit of cash disposing of waste legitimately,
0:16:14 > 0:16:17he was blatantly flouting the law and torching vast quantities of rubbish.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24We didn't feel very safe when we saw an orange glow down there.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27We thought, "What's on fire? How big is it going to get?"
0:16:27 > 0:16:31And you don't know how far these things are going to spread
0:16:31 > 0:16:35and how quickly, so it's not very pleasant
0:16:35 > 0:16:38to see something like that. It can be quite frightening.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42I'm not surprised. Can you imagine living next door to all of this?
0:16:42 > 0:16:44"Neighbour from hell" doesn't quite cover it.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48The time had come for the locals to channel their inner Miss Marples
0:16:48 > 0:16:50and find out what on Earth was going on.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53But just how were they going to get to see over those fences?
0:16:53 > 0:16:57My husband's fortunate to have a friend with a small plane,
0:16:57 > 0:17:00so my husband and his friend went up in it,
0:17:00 > 0:17:04and took photographs from the air of the site.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07Suddenly they had a clear view of what was going on,
0:17:07 > 0:17:09and they couldn't believe their eyes. What a state!
0:17:09 > 0:17:12O'Donnell had really gone to town,
0:17:12 > 0:17:15dumping tons and tons of all kinds of rubbish.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18For want of a better word, I was gobsmacked.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22I had no idea that it was quite as vast as it was,
0:17:22 > 0:17:26and it was just a mess, one big mess.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29And closer inspection gave our very own detective
0:17:29 > 0:17:33and idea of the kinds of waste this scoundrel was collecting
0:17:33 > 0:17:35at the site.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39There was what looked like asbestos, old paint cans, oil drums...
0:17:41 > 0:17:46..bottles, jars, pans, paper, card - you name it,
0:17:46 > 0:17:48it seemed to be there.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52Enough was enough. Sally Coble and her team
0:17:52 > 0:17:55had to put a final stop to O'Donnell once and for all.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59There was only one thing for it - an undercover operation.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01They set up surveillance cameras,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04but even these experienced investigators
0:18:04 > 0:18:06couldn't believe the evidence.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08The surveillance footage that we shot
0:18:08 > 0:18:12shows that there were not only skips being brought in,
0:18:12 > 0:18:16there were 20-ton lorries depositing their loads
0:18:16 > 0:18:19of what looked like soil and construction waste.
0:18:19 > 0:18:24O'Donnell's filthy rubbish tip would be a scandal anywhere,
0:18:24 > 0:18:28but unbelievably, he'd sited it right next door to a country park.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32David Shirt is chairman of Aldermaston Parish Council.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36We do our best to encourage wildlife in the park.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39If you look up there you can see bat boxes.
0:18:39 > 0:18:44We've got them dotted throughout the woodland area.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47We're really lucky to have such a tremendous recreation facility
0:18:47 > 0:18:51within the parish - English nature at its finest.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55It really is. But O'Donnell was filling the land right next door
0:18:55 > 0:18:58with all kinds of dangerous materials,
0:18:58 > 0:19:02and what's particularly scandalous is that waste water from the site
0:19:02 > 0:19:04was draining right into the streams and lakes
0:19:04 > 0:19:06that are vital to the park's ecosystem,
0:19:06 > 0:19:10home to some of England's rarest species of dragonfly.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14One of the key things about this site is its diversity.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18We not only have the lakes, but we also have the ancient woodland
0:19:18 > 0:19:20across there.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22As concerns about O'Donnell's site grew,
0:19:22 > 0:19:25the Environment Agency took a leaf out of Jean's book
0:19:25 > 0:19:28and decided to track what was going on from the air.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32And what their photos reveal is absolutely shocking.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35I've got some pictures of the site here,
0:19:35 > 0:19:38showing what it looked like in 2006.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41You can see that there was a lot of trees in the middle,
0:19:41 > 0:19:44and a wetland area.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47This is where they were tipping out waste,
0:19:47 > 0:19:49and sorting it and burning it.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53This is where he's sorting out construction materials.
0:19:53 > 0:19:58If we move from November 2006 to a year later,
0:19:58 > 0:20:04November 2007, you can see that quite a lot of the trees are gone
0:20:04 > 0:20:09from this area, and the wetland area has been completely filled in.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15We then move on to 2009,
0:20:15 > 0:20:18and you may think this isn't the same site.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22It's been landfilled to two, three, four metres
0:20:22 > 0:20:27across the whole site. No trees, no wetland remains.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31It's carnage on an environmental level.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34This is unbelievable. In just three years,
0:20:34 > 0:20:38O'Donnell had totally devastated 12 acres of English countryside,
0:20:38 > 0:20:41turning it into a filthy wasteland.
0:20:42 > 0:20:47Coming up, discover how Sally's team raided the site,
0:20:47 > 0:20:49uncovered the staggering scale of his deception,
0:20:49 > 0:20:53and finally brought the biggest weasel of waste to justice.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02Let's escape the grime of O'Donnell scrapyard
0:21:02 > 0:21:05and take a stroll down Watery Lane on the outskirts of Preston.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09Ah, smell that fresh air! Hear the birds in the trees!
0:21:09 > 0:21:12Look at that beautiful...
0:21:12 > 0:21:15junk. Typical!
0:21:15 > 0:21:18A quiet country lane with no passing traffic,
0:21:18 > 0:21:21and someone comes along to destroy the neighbourhood.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27The fact that people come and dump stuff up round here, it annoys me,
0:21:27 > 0:21:29because it's a nice area, and there's kids about,
0:21:29 > 0:21:33and they get messed in with the rubbish - dog muck, barbed wire,
0:21:33 > 0:21:37glass, asbestos, carpets, everything. It's just ridiculous.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40There is a lot of mess, and it puts people off.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43They don't want to come down. When you get down here, it's lovely.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47It's easier to dump it, not pay for it and have to get certificates
0:21:47 > 0:21:50for the skips, and it's just easier to come down
0:21:50 > 0:21:53and drop it in the middle of the night and drive away.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56But we get left with it all.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01Back in the early hours of a spring morning in April,
0:22:01 > 0:22:04the locals got left with quite a lot.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09Local waste-enforcement officer Paul Cookson
0:22:09 > 0:22:11was yet again called out to witness...
0:22:11 > 0:22:14- A trail of destruction. - Thank you, Paul.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17The material is strewn along quite a long distance,
0:22:17 > 0:22:21about 20, 30 yards, so it's not been dumped in one lot.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25It's been dumped off a moving vehicle by the looks of things,
0:22:25 > 0:22:30and it consisted of what we might call refurbishment material,
0:22:30 > 0:22:35that some house had been under repair or decoration, refurbishment,
0:22:35 > 0:22:38and it's painfully clear that the road is completely blocked.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Impossible for any vehicle to get past that.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44It was a staggering amount of rubbish,
0:22:44 > 0:22:46dropped at speed, using a classic manoeuvre.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50I call it the fly-tipper's flip. Tip up the back of your truck
0:22:50 > 0:22:53and put your foot down.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56Now, we know that he did it in one fluid motion.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59It wasn't as if he stopped and dumped it off.
0:22:59 > 0:23:04It was spread along probably about 20 to 30 yards, metres,
0:23:04 > 0:23:07of this road, starting off quite thin,
0:23:07 > 0:23:09but then as it came along,
0:23:09 > 0:23:12it then started to slip more and more and more,
0:23:12 > 0:23:15so the suggestion is that he's lifted his tailgate up
0:23:15 > 0:23:18and allowed more and more of it to slide off.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20Now, this rascal thought he was being clever.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24He thought that he'd never get caught on this remote road,
0:23:24 > 0:23:27- but he was acting out of... - Sheer, utter laziness.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31And he stood no chance against this most cunning,
0:23:31 > 0:23:35most forensic, most relentless of investigators on his case.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38Oh - or the eye witness.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40On the morning of this incident,
0:23:40 > 0:23:43he'd actually seen a vehicle coming along the road,
0:23:43 > 0:23:47and he was suspicious of why they would be in this area
0:23:47 > 0:23:50at that time, loaded with waste.
0:23:50 > 0:23:55He let the vehicle drive up the hill, and then went to have a look,
0:23:55 > 0:23:59and lo and behold, he found the road was completely blocked with material.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02That's all it takes - a reliable witness.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05Oh, and a bit of CCTV camera magic.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09Sorry, but could this fly-tipper have picked a worse road
0:24:09 > 0:24:13for his dirty deed? It's turning into a bit of a farce.
0:24:14 > 0:24:19Fortunately for us, the local housing estate
0:24:19 > 0:24:24is rife with CCTV cameras, and one camera in particular
0:24:24 > 0:24:28is situated right at the exit of this road,
0:24:28 > 0:24:32so we were able to go to the CCTV company
0:24:32 > 0:24:35and ask them to view the footage,
0:24:35 > 0:24:37and, fortunate for us,
0:24:37 > 0:24:40at exactly the right time that we were given,
0:24:40 > 0:24:43the vehicle is seen coming out of the road.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45Gotcha!
0:24:45 > 0:24:49So the witness at the bottom described a blue Ford Transit,
0:24:49 > 0:24:52heavily laded with building waste.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56The chap does come out onto a main road,
0:24:56 > 0:24:59through a housing estate, with the tailgate down,
0:24:59 > 0:25:03and he's still dropping rubbish as he drives along.
0:25:03 > 0:25:08Hang on, Paul. How can you be sure that this van dropped that rubbish?
0:25:10 > 0:25:13The road was completely blocked by the material that fell off,
0:25:13 > 0:25:18so we do know that the last vehicle to come up the hill
0:25:18 > 0:25:21was the vehicle that dumped the rubbish.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23That's it! Your witness.
0:25:23 > 0:25:28But Paul's forensic mind hasn't finished its great machinations yet.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31Hold on, Your Honour. There's one more moment of brilliance
0:25:31 > 0:25:33still to come.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37Curiously enough, on me viewing that footage,
0:25:37 > 0:25:42it became apparent to me very quickly that I already knew this vehicle.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46This van had got stuck in the mud on a housing estate.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48Paul had been called out, and Paul being Paul,
0:25:48 > 0:25:52he'd taken some photos - you know, just for the record.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55I already knew of this vehicle
0:25:55 > 0:25:58as being used by a registered waste carrier.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01That means he had a name and address.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03This fly-tipper is about to be swatted.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05Paul hauled him in for an interview,
0:26:05 > 0:26:08charged him with one count of fly-tipping,
0:26:08 > 0:26:10and before long, he was up in court.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13He appeared at Preston Magistrates Court initially.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17They took a dim view of the incident,
0:26:17 > 0:26:21and the matter was referred to the Crown Court.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23A dim view indeed.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27Only the most serious offences are referred up to the Crown Court
0:26:27 > 0:26:30for sentencing. He was given three months' imprisonment,
0:26:30 > 0:26:34suspended for two years, and he was ordered to pay £240
0:26:34 > 0:26:36towards the council's clean-up costs.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38This fly-tipper was finished.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41The result of him being prosecuted, obviously,
0:26:41 > 0:26:44I think he's learnt his lesson. He's lost his business,
0:26:44 > 0:26:47he's on a suspended sentence,
0:26:47 > 0:26:50and seriously affected his lifestyle,
0:26:50 > 0:26:54all because he decided he'd dump half his load in a country lane.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58Tragic - a career destroyed because of...
0:26:58 > 0:27:02- One stupid moment in his life. - Well put, Paul.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11We're back on patrol with the lovely Peter Adams
0:27:11 > 0:27:14in Lewisham in South London. He's an enforcement officer
0:27:14 > 0:27:18who pounds the pavements persuading litter louts and rubbish rogues
0:27:18 > 0:27:22to clean up their act. And he's got his work cut out for him!
0:27:22 > 0:27:25Case two today, private land...
0:27:29 > 0:27:33..that's been used by any old Tom, Dick or Harry
0:27:33 > 0:27:35as a free rubbish dump,
0:27:35 > 0:27:40leaving the innocent landowner responsible for clearing it all up.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43We've tried to work with the landowner
0:27:43 > 0:27:47to get them to remove the problem from their land.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50It's quite considerable for the owner. We do sympathise.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54But we have to take action. This is quite a horrible sight
0:27:54 > 0:27:57for people living round here. It's a detriment to the amenity.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02It may cause rats and other similar problems to that,
0:28:02 > 0:28:04which is not acceptable in modern England.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08Quite right, Peter. This is hardly the kind of shoddy mess
0:28:08 > 0:28:10we expect in this day and age.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13Peter's been working to get this cleared up for a while.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16The council's put signs up warning off fly-tippers,
0:28:16 > 0:28:18and to give the landowner his due,
0:28:18 > 0:28:21he's tried his best to make the site inaccessible.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25Sadly, according to the law, it's still his problem.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29We've progressed this matter with a formal notice on the landowner
0:28:29 > 0:28:33to clear the land. They haven't complied, unfortunately, with that,
0:28:33 > 0:28:35so we've had to take the matter to court,
0:28:35 > 0:28:38and the landowner's been found guilty of not clearing the land.
0:28:38 > 0:28:43The next stage is, unfortunately, the council will have to remove
0:28:43 > 0:28:48this rubbish on this land themselves, and then re-charge the landowner.
0:28:48 > 0:28:51An estimate is around £3,000.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55£3,000 to clear up after the tippers!
0:28:59 > 0:29:03Case three - a report of a problem on a residential road.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06Somebody's put some rubbish out onto the street,
0:29:06 > 0:29:08which is fly-tipping.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11It's unsightly, but it's hardly the crime of the century.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14But Peter's no jobsworth. He's an understanding man,
0:29:14 > 0:29:16and he does the decent thing.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20We've got a recycling bin. All this is recyclable,
0:29:20 > 0:29:23the whole lot. So it'll be very easy.
0:29:23 > 0:29:26I'll just put it back in the recycling bin.
0:29:26 > 0:29:27At least there's one problem sorted.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31You see? I told you Peter's a man with a heart of gold.
0:29:31 > 0:29:33Case three closed.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37I've just spotted something quite nasty in here on the pavement.
0:29:37 > 0:29:42It's actually a cigarette lighter, but it's actually a knife as well,
0:29:42 > 0:29:47an object which is obviously not appropriate to be left on the street.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50Could be used for something a bit nastier later.
0:29:50 > 0:29:52So I'm going to take that back to the office
0:29:52 > 0:29:55and have it disposed of properly in a sharps box.
0:29:55 > 0:29:59Hang on. I didn't even have time to open that case before you closed it.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02So, case four - potentially saving a child
0:30:02 > 0:30:04from becoming another dreadful statistic.
0:30:06 > 0:30:10I hope somebody feels ashamed that they've left that on the street,
0:30:10 > 0:30:13for children, probably, to get hold of.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16But I've removed it from the street.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19That's made my day, just that one little thing.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23So...it continues on.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26He's great, isn't he? Really dedicated to his job,
0:30:26 > 0:30:30and to making Lewisham a better place to live for everyone.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33Right! Case number five.
0:30:33 > 0:30:37What we have here is a nasty little bit of fly-tipping,
0:30:37 > 0:30:40very opportunistic. We've got some garages here,
0:30:40 > 0:30:42so it's an open forecourt,
0:30:42 > 0:30:46and people have just fly-tipped. We've got all sorts here.
0:30:46 > 0:30:50We've got garden waste, we've got faecal matter there...
0:30:50 > 0:30:53Urgh! Oh, don't kick it, Peter!
0:30:53 > 0:30:55Maybe a wild animal.
0:30:55 > 0:31:00Um, some building materials that have been just dumped here,
0:31:00 > 0:31:03including boxes, for kitchen units perhaps,
0:31:03 > 0:31:06some tiling...
0:31:06 > 0:31:09some packaging from various companies...
0:31:10 > 0:31:14Unfortunately the local residents are now stuck with this problem,
0:31:14 > 0:31:19because, er... because it's right opposite them.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23This might look like a load of old rubbish to me and you,
0:31:23 > 0:31:25but to Peter, this is a mass of evidence.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27Just watch him go.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31Not a local address. We've got a phone number on there, even.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33A receipt from one of the large companies.
0:31:33 > 0:31:37Another little piece there. A bit of a bank statement here.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41I've got somebody's business card, a few more names and addresses here.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44Bank account details on there, unfortunately. A local address.
0:31:44 > 0:31:46Some more bank statements.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49Haven't people heard about identity theft or shredders?
0:31:49 > 0:31:52And then a telephone number, so I can ring you directly.
0:31:52 > 0:31:55I'll bag this up
0:31:55 > 0:31:59and put it for use as evidence.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02Well, there sure is enough of it. That was pretty impressive work.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05People don't seem to care at the moment,
0:32:05 > 0:32:08regarding the dumping of rubbish.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12It's part of our job to enforce that, to push that across to them,
0:32:12 > 0:32:14advise them, educate them,
0:32:14 > 0:32:18enforce via the courts if we need to.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22You tell 'em, Peter! Right, what are we up to now?
0:32:22 > 0:32:26Case number six. It's the old "back alley behind some shops" problem,
0:32:26 > 0:32:30but this time it's the people who work there who are hopping mad.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34They're coming and going from the office all the time,
0:32:34 > 0:32:38doing sales and lettings, so sometimes the guys can't get their cars in and out,
0:32:38 > 0:32:41and it just causes problems. It's there when it shouldn't be there,
0:32:41 > 0:32:44- so it's very annoying. - It's disgusting,
0:32:44 > 0:32:47because we've been told that we have to pay to remove it,
0:32:47 > 0:32:50and we're a charity-run shop.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52I have turned in here on a Monday morning
0:32:52 > 0:32:55and there's been rubbish everywhere down this alleyway,
0:32:55 > 0:32:58and it's just dumped during the weekend,
0:32:58 > 0:33:00and it's just so frustrating. God forbid
0:33:00 > 0:33:02if there was ever any services required,
0:33:02 > 0:33:06ie ambulance, fire services - they can't get down here.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10Peter to the rescue. Go on, get stuck in!
0:33:13 > 0:33:16This is all refuse,
0:33:16 > 0:33:19betting slips and newspapers and cigarettes.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21This is an opportunistic fly-tipper.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24He's dumped sofas, chairs, wood, drawers,
0:33:24 > 0:33:27clothing, bottles, paper, glass...
0:33:27 > 0:33:30Every conceivable horrible thing has been dumped here
0:33:30 > 0:33:32by this fly-tipper.
0:33:32 > 0:33:35For this case, Peter had to don his deerstalker
0:33:35 > 0:33:39and become detective. It turns out it wasn't the shops
0:33:39 > 0:33:42or the council who were responsible for this lane,
0:33:42 > 0:33:45but a housing association. They hadn't dumped the rubbish,
0:33:45 > 0:33:49but unfortunately it was their responsibility to clean up.
0:33:49 > 0:33:53One call from Peter, and as quick as a flash, the rubbish was gone.
0:33:53 > 0:33:55Result all around.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59We will pursue these people. It's in the public interest.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03The public are paying for a team to be in the council
0:34:03 > 0:34:06enforcing the removal of rubbish where it's been fly-tipped
0:34:06 > 0:34:09by irresponsible and antisocial people,
0:34:09 > 0:34:13and it's in everybody's interest that we all act together
0:34:13 > 0:34:17and tackle this head-on.
0:34:17 > 0:34:21Peter, what would we do without you?
0:34:21 > 0:34:25Now, time to find out what happened to that king weasel
0:34:25 > 0:34:27of waste management, Hugh O'Donnell.
0:34:27 > 0:34:32This scoundrel has succeeded in turning a 12-acre site
0:34:32 > 0:34:36of beautiful Berkshire countryside into a vast, desolate wasteland.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40He'd made millions from an illegal landfill site,
0:34:40 > 0:34:43and caused havoc with his habit of setting fire to any waste
0:34:43 > 0:34:46he couldn't bury.
0:34:46 > 0:34:50We thought, "What's on fire? How big is it going to get,
0:34:50 > 0:34:54and where is it?", basically.
0:34:54 > 0:34:56Nobody really realised what was going on,
0:34:56 > 0:34:59because it was invisible from the local community.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02But O'Donnell's archenemy, Sally Coble,
0:35:02 > 0:35:06and her team from the Environment Agency were on his case.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09During the course of this investigation,
0:35:09 > 0:35:13we've had a number of officers working on this case full-time.
0:35:13 > 0:35:19I mean, it was considered the biggest illegal waste site
0:35:19 > 0:35:24in the Southeast, so we threw a lot of resources at it.
0:35:24 > 0:35:26It was time for Sally and her team
0:35:26 > 0:35:31to finally bring this most filthy rotten scoundrel to justice.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34But first they needed to gather evidence.
0:35:34 > 0:35:38So in 2007, they got a warrant to raid O'Donnell's site
0:35:38 > 0:35:40with the police.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43"I'm happy that is a strike, strike, strike."
0:35:43 > 0:35:45"2-1, can you please move in?"
0:35:49 > 0:35:52So, what did they find? Well, prepare yourself for evidence
0:35:52 > 0:35:56of some truly disgusting behaviour.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59He had been sorting out material
0:35:59 > 0:36:01so that he could reclaim what was worth any money,
0:36:01 > 0:36:05but any of this kind of material that's just from general skip waste,
0:36:05 > 0:36:09he's set fire to. The piles were huge.
0:36:09 > 0:36:11There was still some water on the site,
0:36:11 > 0:36:15and that had got contaminated from the waste being tipped into it,
0:36:15 > 0:36:20so any wildlife that was living in those ponds was long dead.
0:36:20 > 0:36:24Most waste had come from the skip businesses.
0:36:24 > 0:36:31There were large piles of ash where that material had been burnt.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33We found that there was some asbestos.
0:36:33 > 0:36:38Asbestos? Is there no depth of dodginess this man won't sink to?
0:36:38 > 0:36:43But this toxic material wasn't the only hazard Sally's team discovered.
0:36:43 > 0:36:48The Environment Agency found that 65,000 cubic metres of waste
0:36:48 > 0:36:51had been dumped there, raising the ground level
0:36:51 > 0:36:53by almost four metres in places.
0:36:53 > 0:36:55This had potentially deadly implications.
0:36:55 > 0:37:00There was electricity lines going across the site,
0:37:00 > 0:37:03and the landfill had come within four feet
0:37:03 > 0:37:07of an 11,000-volt transformer box,
0:37:07 > 0:37:10so somebody could have been electrocuted.
0:37:10 > 0:37:13These boxes are deliberately located too high off the ground
0:37:13 > 0:37:17to pose a danger to anyone below, but if you raise the ground level
0:37:17 > 0:37:19by four metres, what do you expect?
0:37:19 > 0:37:22The raid didn't just provide vital evidence
0:37:22 > 0:37:25of what O'Donnell had done to the site.
0:37:25 > 0:37:27The team also uncovered crucial paperwork
0:37:27 > 0:37:30which meant they could piece together a tricky jigsaw puzzle
0:37:30 > 0:37:33of how the scoundrel had been operating
0:37:33 > 0:37:35and how he attempted to cover his tracks.
0:37:35 > 0:37:37It was gobsmacking.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39The way Mr O'Donnell operated
0:37:39 > 0:37:43was to set up a company,
0:37:43 > 0:37:47or get one of his accomplices to set up a company for him,
0:37:47 > 0:37:49and they'd operate under that name
0:37:49 > 0:37:52until they had to file company accounts,
0:37:52 > 0:37:56which they never did, so that company was dissolved.
0:37:56 > 0:37:58Meantime, they set up another company.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01Sally's team worked with the financial investigators
0:38:01 > 0:38:05at the Metropolitan Police. They spent hours constructing charts
0:38:05 > 0:38:08and diagrams. Just look at how many sham companies
0:38:08 > 0:38:11O'Donnell and his accomplices were using!
0:38:11 > 0:38:13So Mr O'Donnell used to try and deceive us
0:38:13 > 0:38:17and put us off the scent, but it all led back to him.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20But O'Donnell wasn't just using fake companies
0:38:20 > 0:38:24to carry out his activities. He was using a fake name too.
0:38:24 > 0:38:28We've also got a cheque book for a company,
0:38:28 > 0:38:30AA Skips Hire.
0:38:30 > 0:38:35This company is associated with the name J Kelly Esquire.
0:38:35 > 0:38:40As you can see here, John Kelly has signed this cheque,
0:38:40 > 0:38:43but on this one we found that Hugh O'Donnell has signed it.
0:38:43 > 0:38:48Time to get forensic, so a handwriting expert was called in.
0:38:49 > 0:38:51When we had the handwriting analysis done,
0:38:51 > 0:38:55we found that John Kelly and Hugh O'Donnell
0:38:55 > 0:38:58were the same person, so we think Mr O'Donnell
0:38:58 > 0:39:01forgot that he was supposed to be John Kelly
0:39:01 > 0:39:03when he was signing some of these cheques,
0:39:03 > 0:39:05and this is fantastic evidence.
0:39:05 > 0:39:09The master of mayhem was starting to make mistakes.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13Because so much of O'Donnell's business was conducted in cash,
0:39:13 > 0:39:15it was hard for the investigators to calculate
0:39:15 > 0:39:18exactly how much profit this king of waste had made.
0:39:18 > 0:39:24But at least £3.8 million was passed between his various dodgy companies
0:39:24 > 0:39:27and bank accounts over a period of five years.
0:39:27 > 0:39:31£3.8 million! Unbelievable.
0:39:31 > 0:39:36Sally's team were then finally able to arrest the man himself,
0:39:36 > 0:39:38and wait till you hear what else was discovered.
0:39:38 > 0:39:44A gun and over £40,000 in cash were found in his home and car.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47So this wasn't just a bit of a dodgy businessman.
0:39:47 > 0:39:49This guy was clearly dangerous,
0:39:49 > 0:39:54and in 2009, O'Donnell got a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence
0:39:54 > 0:39:56for possessing an illegal firearm.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59At last the villain had been stopped.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03But the Environment Agency weren't going to leave it there.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06Oh, no. Their surveyors spent days assessing the materials
0:40:06 > 0:40:08and samples taken from the site.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12At a whopping cost of £30,000 to the taxpayer,
0:40:12 > 0:40:15everything had to be analysed. It was concluded
0:40:15 > 0:40:18that as well as the asbestos cement posing a huge risk,
0:40:18 > 0:40:22the dumped waste had caused worrying leaching into the groundwater
0:40:22 > 0:40:25and produced gases exceeding the safe limits,
0:40:25 > 0:40:28presenting a risk to human health,
0:40:28 > 0:40:31and, because it's costly and dangerous to remove asbestos,
0:40:31 > 0:40:34the damage is now deemed to be permanent.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36What a sad state of affairs!
0:40:38 > 0:40:40Fortunately the site's now closed,
0:40:40 > 0:40:44but unfortunately all the debris, everything, is still there.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47We're very pleased, as a local community,
0:40:47 > 0:40:49that the activity's finished now.
0:40:49 > 0:40:51However, we're left with a 14-acre site
0:40:51 > 0:40:55two metres deep, with all sorts of toxic material in there.
0:40:55 > 0:41:00I think he's a very selfish man. I'd better not go any further than that.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03One man's self-serving and contemptible behaviour
0:41:03 > 0:41:07has left a wake of utter devastation for the local community
0:41:07 > 0:41:09and their environment.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13The good news is that O'Donnell and his two accomplices,
0:41:13 > 0:41:17Peter Lavelle and Robert Evans, both got what they deserved.
0:41:17 > 0:41:21Lavelle got 18 months for the waste crimes and money laundering,
0:41:21 > 0:41:24and Evans got two years for the same offences.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30And O'Donnell was sentenced to a total of eight and a half years
0:41:30 > 0:41:33in prison. On the day he was released for the gun offence,
0:41:33 > 0:41:36he was sentenced to another four years,
0:41:36 > 0:41:39the longest term ever for a waste-related crime.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42He was put straight back behind bars.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45The result was, Hugh O'Donnell got four years
0:41:45 > 0:41:47for the acquisition of criminal property -
0:41:47 > 0:41:51that's the money-laundering charge - and got a concurrent sentence
0:41:51 > 0:41:54of 22 months for the waste offence,
0:41:54 > 0:41:57in effect, a four-year sentence for our investigation.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01That's on top of four and a half years for the pistol that was found
0:42:01 > 0:42:03in the raid that we organised.
0:42:03 > 0:42:05This was one of the biggest cases
0:42:05 > 0:42:08the Environment Agency had ever undertaken,
0:42:08 > 0:42:12and a total of 76 of their staff were involved, including our Sally.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15'It was really, really good to get the conviction.'
0:42:15 > 0:42:19We're not going to stop unless we've prosecuted these people.
0:42:19 > 0:42:23We just knew Mr O'Donnell would not be deterred
0:42:23 > 0:42:26by a short prison sentence, so as a result of our investigations,
0:42:26 > 0:42:31Mr O'Donnell will serve a term of eight and a half years.
0:42:31 > 0:42:35We had got through all the layers of confusion and concealment,
0:42:35 > 0:42:39all the false number plates, all the transfers of ownership,
0:42:39 > 0:42:41all the false accounts, and the companies that were set up
0:42:41 > 0:42:44as a sham. So it is very satisfying,
0:42:44 > 0:42:48both because of the conclusion of the investigation
0:42:48 > 0:42:51and because of the impact on the illegal-waste world.
0:42:53 > 0:42:57So, that's the UK's filthiest, rottenest scoundrel bang to rights.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00What an amazing result!
0:43:02 > 0:43:04From builders' rubble to household waste
0:43:04 > 0:43:08and everything in between, there's a great British army
0:43:08 > 0:43:11of enforcers out there working to keep our country tidy.
0:43:11 > 0:43:13Join us next time,
0:43:13 > 0:43:17when we'll be chasing down more filthy rotten scoundrels.
0:43:17 > 0:43:21Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:43:21 > 0:43:25E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk