A BARRY man has been jailed for illegally dumping around 1,500 tonnes in waste.

Michael Hendy, 49, of Gwilym Place, appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday (October 12) having pleaded guilty to three counts under the Environmental Permitting Regulations in June this year.

He appeared alongside Nathan Thomas and Victor Keseru, with whom he ran a partnership known as Envik Recycling Services which recycled baled mattress. They received £3 an item to do so.

The offences related to the illegal disposal of wood chippings and mattresses at Llandow Industrial Estate in 2014, despite being issued various warnings to stop.

Hendy, who rented the site, applied for an exemption rather than a permit to dispose of the waste, but broke certain conditions attached to this.

The court heard that Hendy was paid £40 per tonne to dispose of the wood, which had been used as construction material. The prosecution argued the amount of waste dumped on the site equated to around £60,000 in earnings for Hendy and his colleagues.

Tim Evans, prosecuting on behalf of Natural Resources Wales, said the body first got involved in December 2014 when an environmental officer visited the site.

Hendy was told the permit he obtained did not cover what he was doing and that he would have to construct different facilities.

Mr Evans said: "He was told then what he was doing was illegal. He was told what he was doing was wrong but this was ignored because more and more waste came on to the site.

"He was cynically happy to take the waste and walk away without any thought about what was going to happen."

Mr Evans went on to mention that there has been "leaching," a contamination of land around the site caused by the waste disposal, which had created a fire hazard and localised risk of pollution.

He added that it would cost £52,000 to clear up the site, money that would come out of the public purse.

Nicholas Gedge, defending Hendy, said that his client had applied for an exemption rather than a permit because of a "misguided hope" that he would get a tenancy to take over the site.

He said that Hendy had struggled with his mental health and that the operation had generated costs as well as income, including the use of a shredder, an excavator and a 360 degree grab machine.

"This happened two and a half years ago and he has not been in any trouble since.

"His previous convictions are old and irrelevant. He is a man of good character. There is a low risk of reoffending. This was out of character."

Hendy was jailed for 10 months and ordered to pay a £100 surcharge.

Keseru and Thomas were both given six month prison sentences suspended for two years, and were ordered to pay £26,040 in compensation, £6,500 in costs and carry out 225 hours unpaid work.