Sailesh Mehta prosecutes Thames Water

Thames Water has been fined £4 million after untreated sewage escaped from sewers below London into a park and a river.

Thames Water pleaded guilty to depositing sewage waste at a recreation ground in February 2016. The court also took into consideration breach of a permit regarding that incident and discharging into the Hogsmill River in January and October 2018, and an incident in September 2019, when sewage sludge was released from Hogsmill sewage treatment works in error.
Sitting at Aylesbury Crown Court on 26 May, Judge Francis Sheridan fined Thames Water £4 million, ordering them to pay the Environment Agency’s costs of £84,669.

Sailesh Mehta acted for the Environmental Agency with this latest conviction bringing the total amount of fines given to Thames Water since 2017 to £28.4 million for 10 cases of water pollution.