Managers of site of huge Telford fire spared jail after allowing waste to 'get out of control'
The former managers of a waste site which was engulfed in one of the county's biggest-ever fires have been spared jail.
More than 50,000 tonnes of waste burned at the Greenway Polymers site in Ketley, Telford, for a month, starting in April last year.
The blaze closed the M54 at one point and led to residents being asked to keep doors and windows closed for fear of the impact of fumes.
Firefighters were on the scene for a month tackling the incident, which has cost authorities hundreds of thousands of pounds to deal with.
John and Mark Nicholson, both of Armagh in Northern Ireland, who were in charge of Greenway Waste Recycling in Ketley, appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Thursday for sentence in relation to their management of the business before it went bust in 2016.
Although not responsible for the fire, they each pleaded guilty to a charge of contravening the requirements of an environmental permit – by allowing waste to build up and "spiral out of control at the site" before their firm went into liquidation and they were locked out of the premises.
Jonathan Nicholson, 44, of Drumman Heights, and Mark Nicholson, 48, of Keady Road, were both given suspended jail sentences for their actions – and were also disqualified from being company directors for three years.
Sentencing, Recorder Julian Taylor, said: "You had this waste company and for a start it ran perfectly well, you were taking it away for payment and selling it on so to speak.
"However this got out of control, it became a point where it was a danger to everyone.
"There was far too much of it, some of it became out of control and the waste was locked in."
He added: "This was very near to a motorway and a nursery and primary school, it posed a high risk."
Recorder Taylor accepted the fires were "nothing to do with" the defendants, but said what was "reckless" became a breach of their permit.
He added: "You knew this was getting out of control and did nothing to stop it.
"Unfortunately this became a spiral and you were trapped."
Recorder Taylor said the clean up of the site would cost around £450,000, adding: "This just shows the state this had gotten into through your behaviour."
He told the pair that although the offence was serious enough to go to jail, their previous good character meant he would suspend the sentence.
Both men were given eight months jail, suspended for 12 months.
They will be required to complete 100 hours of unpaid work, have been disqualified from being company directors for three years, and must pay £11,715 in cost each.
