A career criminal who dumped and burned waste on green belt land has walked away from court with a suspended sentence – leaving authorities to foot the £150,000 clean-up bill.

Jamie Broadmore operated on ‘an industrial scale’, acting aggressively towards firefighters and on one occasion releasing pigs onto a busy A-road in Kent.

Smoke from his bonfires disrupted traffic on nearby roads and was also blown across the HS1 rail line.

Gravesham Council officials said Broadmore’s actions were one of the worst cases of flytipping they had ever seen.

The 41-year-old appeared before Maidstone Crown Court in June and admitted an offence under Section 33(1)c of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

A judge sentenced him to six months jail suspended for 12 months and was ordered to undertake 100 hours of unpaid work.

He was also ordered to pay compensation of £1,000 and undertake 10 days of rehabilitation activity.
Broadmore, from Strood, has 16 previous convictions covering 41 varied offences including burglary and fraud.

Despite National Highways spending £150,000 clearing the site, and the investigation costing Gravesham council £4,840, no costs were awarded.

It has prompted Labour leader John Burden to call for urgent action from the government to redress the “fundamentally flawed” situation and review the current sentencing guidelines.

Speaking after the court hearing, Cllr Burden said he felt the sentence was too light.

‘This is a dispiriting result for all involved in bringing this to court,’ he said.

‘We know judges are bound by sentencing guidelines, but these must be fundamentally flawed when someone who has admitted facilitating illegal dumping on an industrial scale and who has a litany of previous convictions can walk away with such a light sentence.

‘On the site was industrial rubbish, he was burning it on site. It caused some smoke and fire to go down onto the A2, so it cost the public time as well.

‘Back in 2022 the A2 was being closed, due to all the fires coming from the land above – this was due to this site.

‘He also had pigs on site that got released down onto the A2, again causing chaos.

‘This is all unacceptable, it’s illegal, we took the enforcement.

‘Unfortunately, he only got six months suspended for one year and he’s got 100 hours probationary work as well to work in the community.

‘How am I and my fellow councillors supposed to explain to our rightly concerned constituents that their council tax has been spent successfully pursuing criminals such as Broadmore, and he does not have to pay a penny towards recouping those costs? It is simply beyond belief.’

The council leader is asking the government to address this and bring in sentences that will act as a ‘true deterrent’ to the organised criminal gangs behind the ‘epidemic of fly tipping’.

‘We will be lobbying hard through all the channels available to us for this to happen and happen soon,’ he added.

The council is working alongside Lauren Sullivan, Gravesham MP, who said: ‘Fly-tipping is not a victimless crime. It damages our environment, puts public safety at risk, and leaves local taxpayers footing the bill.

‘Cases like this highlight the need for tougher penalties that properly reflect the seriousness of these offences and act as a strong deterrent to those who think they can profit from harming our communities.’

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