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Illegal scrapyard operator fined in cross-border operation

Getty Images Scrapped cars are piled on top of each other in a row. The wheels are missing and the old cars are rusting and missing componentsGetty Images
Up to 100 end-of-life vehicles were discovered at the site in Crossmaglen (stock image)

A man from County Louth has been fined £1,500 for running an illegal scrapyard with cars, lorries, heavy plant machinery and lead acid batteries in County Armagh.

Michael Meegan of Drumbilla was the first person to be extradited to Northern Ireland by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA).

More than 55 end-of-life vehicles were found on a site he was renting on Ballsmills Road in Crossmaglen in 2017 and he failed to explain their presence.

After continual waste offences at the site and three failures to serve court summons, an international arrest warrant was issued for Meegan in August 2023.

Meegan was sentenced to fines totalling £1,500 plus a £60 offender levy at Newry Crown Court on Friday for breaching waste management legislation.

After establishing that Meegan had no license or authorisation to permit vehicle breaking on the site, NIEA issued a notice to Meegan to cease activity.

He was subsequently ordered to remove the waste and supply the relevant paperwork proving its lawful disposal.

The paperwork was not submitted, and following a further six site inspections between 26 February 2018 and 24 September 2019 by the NIEA, more ELVs and mechinical waste was discovered accumulating at the site.

The controlled waste found at 75 Ballsmill Road Crossmaglen during the course of the NIEA investigation consisted of up to 100 ELVs which included lorries and heavy plant machinery, cars, tyres, chemical/oil drums, lead acid batteries, vehicle parts and paint cans.

After the arrest warrant was issued, Meegan was subsequently detained on 5 January 2024 and returned to NI on 24 January 2024 where he remained until the trial was heard.