Case dropped against NHS waste scandal firm boss

The case against a businessman accused of illegally storing medical waste, including human body parts, has been dropped.

Garry Pettigrew's Healthcare Environmental Services (HES) closed after losing NHS waste contracts.

He had been on trial at Hamilton Sheriff Court since last November and denied allegations HES breached regulations on safe waste storage.

This related to a site near Shotts, Lanarkshire, and another in Dundee.

The prosecution case against him had closed and Mr Pettigrew had given evidence on his own behalf.

But last month it emerged new evidence had come to light and was being assessed by lawyers.

The case was due to be called again in court on Thursday for a procedural hearing but was treated as "not called".

Prosecutors have now confirmed a review of evidence has led them to rule no further criminal proceedings should take place at this time.

The trial previously heard the cost of clearing the HES site in Shotts rose to almost £660,000 and took nearly all of 2020 to clear the plant which was "wall-to-wall" with 391 tonnes of medical waste.

Peter Wightwick, a contractor, said his team had to burst open pallets of medical waste and found containers of human body parts mixed with other rubbish.

Photographs shown to the court included one of a penguin carcass which was said to have come from Edinburgh Zoo.

Mr Wightwick claimed other dead animals were found at the site but were unidentifiable because they had turned to a "kind of liquid fur".

Other photographs shown included tubs date-marked 2017 which contained human body parts from NHS sites across Scotland.

HES went into liquidation in April 2019 after losing NHS contracts in England and Scotland.

Pettigrew had earlier told the trial how he received death threats after he made 400 staff redundant days after Christmas in 2018.

He said breaking the news to staff about non-payment of wages as the "hardest day" of his life.

A Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) spokesperson said: "It is the duty of the Crown to keep cases under review, and following full and careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, including the available admissible evidence, the procurator fiscal decided that there should be no further criminal proceedings at this time.

"The Crown reserves the right to proceed in the future should further evidence become available."

Lin Bunten, acting chief compliance officer at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), said: "As Scotland's environment protection agency, Sepa are clear that environmental compliance is non-negotiable.

"We use every tool available to us with the aim of successfully detecting, disrupting and deterring environmental non-compliance.

"Following significant regulatory effort at HES sites a report was submitted to the procurator fiscal in respect of Mr Garry Pettigrew and Healthcare Environmental Services Limited."