ESG Enforcement Tracker

Key facts:

In September 2024, Andrew Eyre and Nimesh Patel were sentenced before Northampton Crown Court, in connection with a waste tyre company, Synergy Tyres (Midland) Ltd (Synergy Tyres), which was operating without an environmental permit. Mr Eyre was the sole director of the company and Mr Patel was the operational manager of the site.

The EA had inspected the site operated by Synergy Tyres several times in 2020. On each occasion, the EA had identified volumes that exceeded the legal limit. Paperwork that it obtained revealed that waste tyres were continuously delivered to the site throughout the year. There were records of large shipments to India, far exceeding the permitted limits.

Synergy Tyres had previously been fined and Mr Eyre had received a suspended sentence in January 2020 for operating the same waste tyre facility without an environmental permit.

During an inspection in February 2021, the defendants were arrested for their continued non-compliance.

During sentencing HH Judge Lucking KC stated that the defendants had been reckless and had displayed wilful blindness. She found that the risk of tyre fires at the site presented a serious risk of pollution to the environment. Had a fire started at the site, it would have placed fire-fighters and site-users at risk of serious harm from “a cocktail of hazardous chemicals.”

Mr Eyre was sentenced to 18 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, on condition that he complete 30 days of Rehabilitation Activities. Mr Patel was sentenced to 14 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, on condition that he perform 80 hours of unpaid work.

The case has been adjourned to a later date for confiscation and costs.