A PLANT hire operator has been jailed for illegally dumping vast quantities of controlled waste at sites in Swansea and Carmarthenshire, including thousands of tonnes of contaminated soil from a new rail depot.

Samuel Gordon Nookie Burton also dumped skip-loads of rubbish at the rear and front of a house in Llanelli in what Judge Paul Thomas QC described as a “totally spiteful act”.

Sentencing Burton at Swansea Crown Court to 15 months in prison, Judge Thomas said it was impossible to calculate the quantity of waste the defendant had dumped but that “it was near industrial in scale”.

Judge Thomas told Burton, 41, of Cysgod Y Cwm, Cynheidre, that he ran a business “which was quite simply making money from criminal activity”, and that he showed a “complete and utter contempt for any regulatory regime”.

The offending period was between 2012 and 2017, while the dumping at the house in Murray Street, Llanelli – which followed a contractual dispute with the owners – was in 2019.

Judge Thomas said offending was persistent despite warnings from Natural Resources Wales.

He said he took into account Burton’s guilty pleas and accepted he had mental health issues, but noted his previous convictions.

Also appearing via videolink for sentencing was William Howard Walters, of Tirmynydd Farm, Birchgrove, for disposing of controlled waste at the farm and contravening the requirements of an environmental permit.

Judge Thomas said Walters’s offending was deliberate and for financial gain.

He said: “Even after you were given the clearest possible warnings from Natural Resources Wales, you continued unabashed with your activity.

“The cost of the clear-up of the site will be significant.”

He sentenced the 73-year-old to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, imposed a 15-day rehabilitation requirement and ordered him to pay a £2,000 fine and £1,000 towards prosecution costs.

Addressing the pair, Judge Thomas said: “You both knew the system and you both flouted it.”

Speaking afterwards, NRW’s South West operations manager Gavin Bown said it was important to protect the environment.

He added: “When individuals or companies behave in this manner, we will do everything in our power to protect our natural resources and communities, and to ensure a level playing field for businesses who operate within the law.”

Ruth Mullen, director of environment at Carmarthenshire Council, said: “Fly-tipping is a serious offence with consequences for the environment and communities.”