Kent man fined over £1m for breaking F-gas rules
17th August 2024
UK: Fines totalling over £1m have been issued by the Environment Agency to an 80-year-old Folkestone man for breaches of the F-gas regulations.
John Brett was a former director of a Folkestone-based gas importer Eurochem (SE) Ltd. The company was dissolved in 2016 but Brett continued to trade under Eurochem (SE).
The civil penalties imposed on Brett accounted for nearly half the total of £2.23m F-gas fines issued by the Environment Agency over the last 12 months.
Brett received 11 civil penalties totalling £1,045,750. These included fines for failing to obtain sufficient HFC quota, failing to report imports of HFCs and failing to keep records of sales.
Fines totalling £1,038,000 were attributable to importing without quota 109,300kg of refrigerant in seven separate breaches between June 2018 and March 2021. In all, this amounted to 172,131tCO2e. The financial gain from the illegal activity was estimated by the Environment Agency to be over £2.4m.
Brett successfully appealed against one charge of importing HFC236fa in non-returnable cylinders.
At a case management hearing held in March 2023. Brett’s legal representative confirmed that Brett was of limited means and suffered from numerous health conditions, including problems with memory loss.
