Repeat fly tipping offenders hit with Criminal Behaviour Order

Two men have received a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) preventing them collecting and transporting waste for the next two years after both admitted fly tipping offences.

Swansea Magistrates’ Court imposed the CBO on Michael Joseph Quilligan, 22, of Western Avenue, Sandfields and Steven Gilheaney, 26, of Radnor House, Sandfields.

Both men were also each given 16-week jail terms suspended for 12 months and were ordered to pay £1,465.38 each in prosecution costs.

The magistrates also ordered both men to complete a 15-day Rehabilitation Requirement as directed by the Probation Service and each received £154 victim impact surcharge.

Waste enforcement

The CBO was granted following an application by Neath Port Talbot Council’s Waste Enforcement Section.

CBOs can be issued to persistent offenders following conviction for a criminal offence, to prevent them from engaging in future anti-social and criminal behaviour that causes or is likely to “cause harassment, alarm, or distress to others”.

The magistrates imposed the two-year order with the following condition – “save for when employed by a scrap metal business, not to collect waste from within NPT (Neath Port Talbot), not to transport waste within NPT and not to be in a vehicle transporting waste within NPT.”

The court heard that on September 1st, 2023, a large amount of waste was dumped in an area in Sandfields, Port Talbot, known as the ‘OId BP Site’ including paperwork, boxes and plastic strips, which was found by a council Waste Enforcement Team officer following a report from a member of the public.

Loaned van

Investigation work found Mr Quilligan and Mr Gilheany, using a loaned van, had agreed to remove the waste from a Port Talbot supermarket which needed to clear out a storage area and from an address in Swansea. Both admitted to illegally depositing the waste.

On November 28th, 2023, during a visit to ‘fly-tipping hotspots’ in Neath Port Talbot, a Waste Enforcement Officer found a large amount of mixed garden, construction and household waste on land near Water Street, Margam.

Mr Quilligan was later interviewed by Waste Enforcement officers, and he accepted both he and Mr Gilheaney had removed the waste from an address in Pontardawe.

Both Mr Quilligan and Mr Gilheaney admitted illegally depositing controlled waste.

On January 20th, 2025 Waste Enforcement officers found a large amount of household and construction waste dumped on land between Enfield Street and Borough Street, Aberavon, the waste having been removed from a house in Cwmavon.

After investigation work by the Waste Enforcement Team, Mr Quilligan again admitted illegally depositing controlled waste.

Neath Port Talbot Council’s Cabinet Member for Streetscene, Cllr Scott Jones, said: “I want to congratulate our Waste Enforcement Team for yet again bringing before the courts those who seriously damage our environment by dumping waste.

“It’s clear the courts are taking these offences seriously with the sentences, fines and Criminal Behaviour Order imposed in this case.”