More jail for van-crush fly-tipper for skipping bail

Martin McDonagh fly-tipped at 18 different sites in Devon in a year

A fly-tipper who dumped his customers' household waste in countryside around Devon has been given an additional jail sentence for skipping bail.

Martin McDonagh, 26, was sentenced to 20 months in 2017 in his absence after he fled to the Republic of Ireland.

McDonagh, who lived in Pemros Road, St Budeaux, Plymouth, at the time, was extradited from Ireland on Friday.

At Plymouth Crown Court, he was given an additional six weeks in jail for failing to attend court then.

The court heard he cold-called households and pressurised people into taking their waste before he dumped it in the countryside.

He fly-tipped at 18 different sites over a year, with rubbish being left by him on roads, at a golf club and at a bus stop; making a total of £1,800.

He was charged after an investigation involving the Environment Agency, police and several local authorities.

His Ford Transit van was seized by the agency and filmed being crushed in 2017.

He did not appear at his sentencing hearing and went on the run until he was brought back to the UK on a European Arrest Warrant last week.

His defence said he had lived a trouble-free life in Ireland and handed himself in in November because he wanted to get this matter out of the way.

Sentencing McDonagh to serve his two sentences consecutively, Judge James Townsend also issued him with an indefinite criminal behaviour order.

Adrian Evans, of the Environment Agency, said the case showed "the extent to which the authorities will work together to show people will face justice for this sort of serious crime".