Greenology: Directors of Yorkshire plastic recycling plant which was destroyed in fire admit environmental offences four years on

Laura Frances Hepburn and Jonathan Guy Brudenell were due to go on trial at Teesside Crown Court following an investigation by the Environment Agency after the fire at Greenology Ltd in Liverton, near Redcar, in April 2020. The site, a large employer, never re-opened.

The former couple, who at the time lived in Sandsend, near Whitby, together, originally denied the offences, but at a hearing on Friday pleaded guilty to some of the counts against them and they will now proceed straight to sentencing in March. The Environment Agency’s lawyers had already indicated they were open to resolving the case before the planned two-week trial.

Brudenell, believed to be living in County Durham, is accused of three offences connected to the use of environmental permits during 2018 and 2019, and one charge of keeping controlled waste likely to contribute to pollution or harm human health in 2019. He is also charged with taking part in the management of a company while under bankruptcy restrictions.

Hepburn, 43, now of Ripon, is accused of two charges of breaching environmental permits and two of keeping controlled waste likely to contribute to pollution or harm human health in 2019 and 2020.

A third defendant, Peter Waldron of Northallerton, has already pleaded guilty and will be sentenced alongside them.

The trial had already been running a year behind schedule because in February 2023 the court was told Hepburn had been declared bankrupt and was not able to pay legal fees. She now has counsel but Brudenell is representing himself.

The Environment Agency uncovered the offences while inspecting the site following the fire, which was deemed to be arson. The case was first heard by the court in January 2022.

After the fire, businesswoman Hepburn, formerly of Robin Hood’s Bay where she once ran a gift shop, set up a beauty salon called Bare Bunnies in Whitby, but it has since closed and the company dissolved. The Greenology site has now been acquired by a property developer.

Brudenell, 51, made his money in property, hotels and aviation, and has owned stakes in The Feversham Arms and The Black Swan in Helmsley.