Recycler Lewis Bertram who turned part of a business park into a mattress "mountain" – could face a prison sentence.

The jury, which retired for more than five and a half hours, returned three guilty verdicts involving charges under the Environment Protection Act.

An EPA spokesman said the offences carry a maximum five-year jail term for very serious cases – and/or unlimited fines.

Now a Judge has ordered an investigation into whether the premises, rented by Bertram’s company Eco-matters, has cleared the waste.

His barrister told Judge Heather Norton “the site has largely been cleared” but Environment Agency lawyers said piles of waste were still there.

Two businessmen are also claiming that because of the rubbish they have lost out on £11,000 and £35,000 income because of not being able to rent their units on the Smarden Business Park because of the eyesore.

The 51 year old had denied all three charges including breaching his licences between December 11 2014 and June 10 the following year.

Environment Agency investigators were called in after complaints from residents, a jury at Canterbury Crown Court was told.

Prosecutor Rebecca Vanstone said Bertram, of Well Street, Loose near Maidstone had “knowingly permitted” waste to be deposited near the units.

“The Environment Agency doesn’t say that Mr Bertram himself deposited the waste but that he allowed it to be deposited with his knowledge and permission.

“The waste included mattresses, bed frames and metal, “ she claimed.

The businessman was also found guilty of failing to provide details under Environment regulations as required by law.

After the jury’s verdict two other charges were put to Bertram about failing to comply with Section 59 EPA orders and he pleaded not guilty.

A hearing at the magistrates court is expect to follow and Bertram will be sentenced for three offences in February when the judge will hear evidence of his company’s turnover.
Judge Norton has asked for details about the cost of clearing up the site – estimated at more than £150,000.

The court heard how Bertram ran his business recycling company and rented two units in the summer of 2013.

“Mattresses would be brought onto the site and stripped of their component parts which would then be sold off,” the prosecutor told the jury.

He had applied to the EA for an “exceptions” which are licences to allow him to treat waste.

Ms Vanstone said Bertram had been given a “T4 Exemption” which allowed him to store 1000 tons of textile waste at one unit and a “T12 Exemption” for five tons of waste which had to be treated inside.

He was also allowed to dismantle 20 tons of divans at any one time, the court heard.
She added: “Three EA officers attended the site from December 2014 until June 2015.and became concerned about the amount of waste stored there.

“They took photographs of the mattresses and they were concerned he was operating outside the terms of his exemptions.

“They served notices on him to remove the waste. That failed to have an effect and later they interviewed him.

“He told them he was the decision-maker for the business and accepted that the site had deteriorated and that he had filled it to over-capacity.”

The prosecutor said calculations made by an officer estimated 1116 tons of waste on one unit and 1184 tons on a second unit - amounting to a pile more than five metres high.

“He was operating outside the terms of his exemptions in that he was storing mattresses wood and metal outside one unit and in another for which he had no exemption, “ she added.