Man jailed for 15 months for fly-tipping offences in Bucks
A man who carried out nine separate fly-tipping offences in Buckinghamshire over a two-year period has received a 15-month custodial sentence.
Michael Joseph McDonagh, 55, from Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment at Aylesbury Crown Court, after pleading guilty to nine offences of illegally dumping waste in the wider area of southern Buckinghamshire.
The court heard that between September 2022 and January 2024, McDonagh was linked to nine large piles of illegally dumped waste. The latest of these was deposited on private land, at a site where many loads had been previously deposited. Buckinghamshire Council's waste enforcement team undertook several investigations and found evidence which linked McDonagh to each deposit. Evidence including bank details, a mobile phone number and vehicle registrations was gathered, and McDonagh was questioned about all nine offences.
McDonagh was interviewed under caution on 3 March 2023 for the first eight offences following arrest by Thames Valley Police in a joint operation with Buckinghamshire Council. He was later interviewed on 16 April 2024, for a ninth matter, where a derelict piece of land had been occupied by an illegal encampment. This additional dumping took place after the first interview, following his release from police custody.
In all nine cases, the waste was found to have been brought into Bucks from outside the county. The incidents involved a vehicle the size of a Ford Transit tipper truck being used to dump several tons of waste at a time.
McDonagh initially entered a ‘not guilty’ plea at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court, with the case then referred by magistrates to Aylesbury Crown Court, where McDonagh pleaded guilty to all nine charges on 18 February 2025.
On Thursday, 1 May 2025, McDonagh was sentenced to 15 months immediate imprisonment with a 40% discount due to his early guilty plea. The judge, Recorder H Cohen found the offending deliberate and with prior knowledge of the law (due to a previous conviction for fly-tipping). The judge described the offending as ‘anti-social, unpleasant and harmful to communities’, and said that the only appropriate penalty was immediate imprisonment.
Buckinghamshire Council has a zero tolerance to fly-tipping. If you spot fly-tipping anywhere in the county, report it to us via: www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/fixmystreet