Bates dumpster business brothers confess to dumping waste illegally

A Co Antrim skip hire company and two former managers have acknowledged waste offences possibly bad for human health and also the environment.

Belfast brothers Gary Samuel Bates and Thomas Andrew Bates, former managers of Ace Bates Skip Hire Limited, acknowledged dumping restricted waste without legal property waste management licences.

Belfast Crown Court yesterday heard how Thomas Bates (45), of Ballysillan Road, and 43-year old Gary Bates, of Upper Crumlin Road, each pleaded guilty to charges which date back to between May 2007 and August 2011.

Together with their company they had been accused of nonpayment and 15 waste offences of landfill taxes charges.

But during yesterday’s hearing they pleaded guilty to four new charges and were rearraigned.

Both brothers as well as the company pleaded guilty to the unlawful deposit of waste.
The business further admitted that it kept restricted waste in a fashion likely to damage the environment or human health.

The pair are reported to have been managers of the business until October 2013.
The 15 charges that are first will remain on the books.

Mr Justice Weir adjourned sentencing until June 2015 after the conclusion of confiscation proceedings against the Bates brothers along with the business.
Yesterday’s charges were contraventions of the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997.