Environment Agency drops case against Sway man Robert Rickman

THE case against a Sway man due to stand trial for not clearing waste and scrap cars from a New Forest property has been dropped.

Robert Rickman was prosecuted in 2021 along with his brother, former leader of New Forest District Council, Barry Rickman, for flouting environmental laws in relation to a scrapyard at Lower Mead End Road in Sway, parts of which they both owned.

As reported in the A&T, Robert was given a four-month prison term, suspended for 12 months, while Barry was hit with a £3,000 court bill, and the judge ordered both brothers to clear the site of all scrap and end-of-life vehicles by November 2022.

However, while Barry cleared his parts of the site and faced no further action, the Environment Agency said Robert had not cleared the property entirely.

The latter pleaded not guilty to contempt of court and was given unconditional bail until 25th April, when he was due to face a trial.

But the EA has now dropped the case, saying it is satisfied the site had been “partly cleared”.

It said it had “determined that the risk to the environment has now been reduced to a level that further enforcement action would now be disproportionate to the risk posed to the environment.”

An EA spokesperson added: “Since our successful prosecutions of the Rickman brothers for illegal waste activity, we continue to closely monitor their premises and note their efforts to remove waste vehicles from the site.

“We are unaware of any continued illegal waste operation at the site.”