Reduced to rubble: Bairstow left areas of Southampton - like the grounds of this cemetery in the Millbrook area
LONDON, England - A man dubbed Britain's worst fly-tipper after he left a cemetery strewn with truckloads of rubbish has been jailed for almost three years.Marcus Bairstow's (right photo) 33-month prison sentence is believed to be the most severe punishment ever handed out for the offence.
Council bosses in Southampton said yesterday that large-scale fly-tipping in the area had almost disappeared since the 36-year-old was arrested last year.
- Before his arrest, Bairstow had been making money by illegally offloading other people's rubbish for 18 months, leaving taxpayers with a massive clean-up bill.
Churchgoers branded his dumping of massive amounts of rubble and rubbish at a cemetery in the Millbrook area of the city a "sacrilege". Bairstow began fly-tipping in May 2009 to make money after he lost his job at a waste disposal company, Southampton Crown Court heard.- Prosecutor Gary Lucie said it cost hundreds of pounds to clean up his rubbish from roads and an industrial estate. Bairstow, from Southampton, was caught when witnesses noted the registration number of the vehicles involved and they were all traced to him.
- Mark Florida-James, defending, said: "He needed to provide for his family and it seemed an easy option. He hasn't made a lot of money from it".
- Bairstow pleaded guilty to six charges of the unlicensed deposit of controlled waste, three of breaching a duty of care with respect to waste, and one of failing to provide information. He asked for 11 other offences to be considered.
Passing sentence, Judge Gary Burrell, QC, told Bairstow: "This tipping must have been reasonably organised by you and is aggravated by the sheer number of offences and the deliberate disregard of the law for financial benefit."Southampton City Council leader Royston Smith said he was "delighted" that a man who was possibly Britain's worst fly-tipper had been brought to justice.
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