DAERA | Harry Brown (62), Lurganeden Road, Pomeroy, Co Tyrone has been convicted for an offence under Article 7(1)(a) of the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 as amended. He pleaded guilty and was fined £1,500 plus £15 Offenders Levy.

The Court heard that NIEA Water Quality Inspectors responded to a water pollution incident that had occurred between 12 and 13 June 2024. They discovered that dark grey agricultural effluent was flowing along a ditch beside the Pomeroy Road before discharging to the Claggan River (a tributary of the Ballinderry River into Lough Neagh).

Inspectors traced the effluent to farm premises on Lurganeden Road. Mr Brown said he had been cleaning out a poultry house when effluent ran through a nearby wooded area into land-drainage pipes and thence the waterway.

A statutory sample of the discharge showed poisonous, noxious or polluting matter likely harmful to aquatic life in the receiving waterway.

It is an offence under the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (as amended) for contravening Articles 7(1)(a), 7(2) or 7(6) regarding polluting discharges to waterways. This list is not exhaustive.

HSA | Kalmar Solutions AB and Scruttons (NI) Limited were fined €150,000 and €300,000 respectively after a terminal worker’s death.

On 14 August 2019 at Dublin Ferryport, a haulier was fatally struck by an empty container handler with restricted visibility. Kalmar failed to design safe machinery and Scruttons failed to assess visibility risks or have written assessments. Both pleaded guilty under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.

HSA Assistant Chief Executive Mark Cullen emphasised the necessity of risk assessments for plant and machinery operations.

Following an HSENI investigation into a July 2021 incident at ‘Planet Fun’ in Carrickfergus, Global Events and Attractions Ltd (Scotland) was fined £15,000 for breaching Articles 4(1) and 5(1) of the Health and Safety at Work (NI) Order 1978. Inspector Jeff Johnson received a suspended sentence for issuing a safety certificate without proper inspection.

On 24 July 2021, a 53 m Starflyer ride malfunctioned, injuring multiple patrons when chairs collided with fences.

A Co. Antrim company has been fined a total of £2,000 at Ballymena Magistrates’ Court for breaches of packaging waste legislation.

Galgorm Group pleaded guilty to two charges under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007: failing to purchase the required number of Packaging Recovery Notes by 31 January 2023 and failing to submit a Certificate of Compliance for the 2022 compliance year.

The company was fined £1,000 for each charge plus an offenders levy after repeated reminders from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency.

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