Newcastle waste collector sentenced after fly-tipping and dumping asbestos near nursery

A man has been given a suspended prison sentence after fly-tipping huge piles of rubbish around Newcastle, including dumping asbestos near a nursery.

Joseph Patrick Ramsey, 37, operated a waste collection business with his dad Joseph Robert James Ramsey, 61.

The business operated under various trade names over several weeks from October 2021 and charged people hundreds of pounds to collect and properly dispose of people’s rubbish.

Instead, the waste was brazenly dumped around the city and on one occassion leaving carpets, kitchen fittings and concrete gutters containing asbestos on Gretna Road in Benwell- next to the nursery and high school.

Ramsey pleaded guilty to five counts of depositing controlled waste on land without the authority of an environmental permit and was sentenced to 24 months in prison, suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work.

His father pleaded guilty to two offences relating to misleading adverts for the recycling business and a fake online review.

The 61-year-old was given a four-week curfew.

Councillor Irim Ali, Newcastle City Council Cabinet member for a Dynamic City, said: “Fly-tipping is a serious offence and it blights our communities.

“I’d like to congratulate our officers for their excellent work for bringing the culprits to justice and I hope this sends a clear message that we’ll not tolerate this type of behaviour in our city.

“We work extremely hard to keep Newcastle clean and we will not allow a minority to spoil it.”