Sentencing of two men responsible for the north’s largest known illegal dump has been delayed once again, the latest twist in court proceedings that began more than a decade ago.
The pair were due to be sentenced later this month after pleading guilty two and a half years ago to dumping an estimated 1.6 million tonnes of waste at Mobuoy outside Derry and close to the River Faughan, the main source of drinking water for the city.
Paul Doherty (66), of Culmore Road in Derry, and Gerry Farmer (55), of Westlake in the city, were due to be sentenced at Derry Crown Court.
But the hearing will not now happen due to the ongoing action by criminal barristers, who have withdrawn services in a dispute with the Department of Justice over legal aid payments.
The men were first returned for trial in January 2015 charged in connection with the illegal dump, known to be the north’s largest but believed to be also the most substantial found on the island or Britain.
This latest development comes as a public consultation on a remediation strategy to clean up the waste, including some hazardous, is due to start at some point in the spring.
Estimates of how much span a huge range, anywhere between £17m to £700m depending on the type of work that is carried out and what types of waste are definitively identified.
Within that range is a figure of just over £100m, potentially the likely figure.
Dean Blackwood, of the River Faughan Anglers, said the start of the remediation process has also faced delays, with a public consultation previously announced in late 2023.
Mr Blackwood said DAERA Minister Andrew Muir and the rest of the Executive cannot avoid or significantly delay remediation, despite the cost.
While no contamination of the Faughan has yet been discovered, it is only a matter of time, he said.
Derry City and Strabane District Council this week heard the department has approved a public consultation on the remediation strategy, to be launched in early spring.
Meanwhile, the legal saga over those responsible for dumping the waste over a six year period to 2013 continues, ten years after it began.
The trial of Doherty and Farmer was delayed initially after the defendants argued for a stay as they would not receive a fair trial.
This, they said, was due to adverse media coverage and “manipulation” by the prosecution over its dealings with the BBC’s Spotlight programme.
Derry’s Recorder sided with the pair but that decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal in a September 2017 ruling. Further legal tussles followed.
Finally, in September 2022, Doherty pleaded guilty to seven charges, Farmer to three. They include handling waste “in a manner likely to cause pollution to the environment or harm to human health”. Farmer’s company, City Industrial Waste, also pleaded guilty.
Sentencing was then delayed for various reasons, including arguments over an environmental assessment of the site.
