Call for mother and son who owned Yorkshire waste dump with 'steaming piles of rubbish' to do litter picks after they escape jail over major fire

Samuel, 31, and hos mother Jacinta, 59, Hunter managed Hunter Group (Yorkshire) Limited and ran a waste site on Queen’s Mill Road, Huddersfield, which had an environmental permit from the Environment Agency (EA). However, according to the EA, inspections in 2015 and 2016 found the site to be repeatedly in breach of its permit, storing ‘large steaming piles’ of rubbish.

Despite numerous warnings and enforcement orders from the EA, a fire broke out at the waste site in August 2016 which burned for weeks. It took Kirklees Council until March 2017 to finally clear the site of all waste, having spent £1.1m in the process.

The pair pleaded guilty to waste offences at the site and accepted that they had kept waste which posed a fire risk in a manner likely to cause pollution or harm to human health.

Samuel was given a 24-month custodial sentence, suspended for two years, while his mother was given a 12-month jail sentence, also suspended for two years. Mr Hunter was ordered to undertake 300 hours of unpaid work, while Ms Hunter was ordered to undertake 80 hours of unpaid work.

Newsome ward councillor and Green Group Leader, Cllr Andrew Cooper, said: “It was in 2015 when I first raised with Kirklees Council the growing mountain of rotting waste created by Sam Hunter’s company. Local people were complaining about the noxious smell from the site. I spoke to Sam Hunter about the operation of the site and the damage to fences. He was typically abusive and unwilling to take any responsibility for his actions. There followed a lot of liaison with Kirklees on the need to take action to address the local environmental disaster that Sam and Jacinta Hunter had amassed on the site for financial gain with no intention of legally removing the waste.

“I hope the proceeds of crime unit of the Crown Prosecution Service is successful at recovering assets from Sam and Jacinta Hunter and that they have not successfully hidden or disposed of assets. The £1.1million it has cost the Council to remove the huge pile of illegal waste they created, was money that could have been spent on vital local services such as supporting adult social care or children with disabilities. It is important that the public know what assets have been seized and their value.

“The combined community service of 380 hours for Sam and Jacinta Hunter is the equivalent of 10 weeks work, instead of a jail time of 2 years and 1 year respectively. They have got off incredibly lightly. That is disappointing after all the damage they have caused to the local environment, discomfort for local people and costs to Kirklees Council.

“If assets aren’t recovered to pay this bill then their sentence of 380 hours of community service, for the £1.1million this has cost Kirklees. will be the equivalent of around £2894/hour.

“I would like some of Sam and Jacinta Hunter’s community service to be spent joining myself, other Newsome Ward Councillors and local volunteers to help with our clean ups around the area. It only seems right that people who created such a monumental mess in our local environment also spend a lot of their time helping clean it up. If they carry out the work I will be happy to sign their timesheet.”