A man has been jailed for running an illegal waste operation after more than four years on the run.

James Mete, from Faversham, was arrested after absconding when he went on trial in 2019 and found guilty in his absence.

The 61-year-old appeared at Maidstone Crown Court for his sentencing last month after being caught and was jailed for the original offence and breaching bail conditions mid-trial.

In 2019, the Environment Agency prosecuted Mete along with his daughters, Lucy and Billie Mete after obtaining evidence that he had allowed multiple lorry-loads of soil and builders’ waste to be dumped and treated on his land at Thirwell Farm in Drove Lane, Hernhill, near Faversham between 2014 and 2016.

About 40,000 tonnes of material – equal to the weight of 3,200 double-decker buses – was found and his work needed an environmental permit, which it did not have.

Following several tip-offs in 2015, the Environment Agency and police raided Thirwell Farm and found 10-foot piles of waste soils and rubble, as well as machinery for processing it.

During this visit, environment officers turned back a lorry that had arrived to tip more waste.

At the time, both the lorry driver and the owner of a building supplies firm gave statements to the Environment Agency saying James Mete was their main contact at Thirwell Farm, despite him saying in an interview that he did not encourage firms to drop waste there.

Following a six-day trial at Maidstone Crown Court in March 2019, a jury found James Mete, Lucy Mete and Billy Mete guilty of breaking environmental law.

The court heard from an expert witness who said the volume of materials on the site had increased by more than 40,000 cubic metres between January 2011 and September 2015.

In January 2020, Lucy Mete was given a 26-week custodial sentence for one count of breaching Environmental Permitting Regulations. For failing to appear in court for sentencing, she received four weeks custodial sentence, both to be served consecutively for a total of 30 weeks.

On July 10, 2019, Lucy’s sister, Billie Mete, was sentenced to six weeks in prison, suspended for two years. She was also given 28 days in jail for breaching the terms of her bail by not attending court for sentence in March but walked free from court having already served more than half this amount in custody.

Before sentencing, it was reported the three had gone missing after the trial had started. A warrant was issued for their arrest and the trial continued in their absence.

Although James Mete ran away before sentencing, he was found more than four years later and arrested for failing to answer his bail.

“This was a deliberate breach of the law, and we are pleased that all three Metes have now all received custodial sentences...”

He was remanded in custody after being tracked down at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court where magistrates noted a warrant was out for his arrest after skipping bail from the trial in Kent.

Mete will serve a 14-month prison sentence for allowing waste to be deposited and treated at his site, Thirwell Farm, along with a further four months for breaching the terms of his bail.

Matt Higginson, environment manager for the Environment Agency in Kent, thanked the police for finding and arresting Mete so he will “finally face the consequences of his crime”.

He said: “This was a deliberate breach of the law, and we are pleased that all three Metes have now all received custodial sentences for the events at Thirwell Farm.

“James Mete and his daughters all knew their actions amounted to a criminal offence, but still allowed waste to be dumped, kept and treated at Thirwell Farm for a number of years with no permit from the Environment Agency.

“I am pleased to see courts taking waste crime seriously. Mete is the third man to be given a prison sentence for waste crime in just a few weeks.”