Farmer jailed for dumping waste

A farmer who dumped thousands of tonnes of cross-border rubbish illegally in his field was today imprisoned for four months.

Philip Johnston (aged 62), of Cules, Killadeas, took food packaging, paper, plastics and medical items from the Republic.

An estimated 1,900 tonnes of waste was found buried under pasture at the Killadeas, Co Fermanagh, premises in October 2004.

He was fined £10,000 at Enniskillen Magistrates’ Court today after being convicted last November on two counts of breaching waste legislation, receiving items from Cork, Dublin and Wexford.

Environment and Heritage Service officers used an excavator to search the premises.

His defence argued that waste paper was intended to provide bedding for livestock quarantined after a brucellosis outbreak.