Legal News

Rochdale Borough Council has prosecuted a company and its manager for distributing a dangerous recalled cleaning product to the public.

Blue Sky Environmental Ltd and its manager Thomas Charnley pleaded guilty to offences involving distributing a dangerous product and supplying a corrosive substance.

At Manchester Magistrates' Court on 29 July 2016, Thomas Charnley was sentenced to a 12-week suspended sentence, as well as 180 hours of community service – and was ordered to pay prosecution costs of £10,000, plus charges.

He was also disqualified from being a company director for five years.

Blue Sky Environmental Ltd was fined £2,500 for each offence.

The court heard how Middleton-based chemical manufacturers Robert McBride Ltd made the decision to securely dispose of their recalled batches of Oven Pride oven cleaner, which had been taken off shelves due to a fault with the child resistant caps.

Blue Sky Environment Ltd was asked to dispose of three batches of the recalled product, despite the company not being licensed to accept or treat the hazardous waste.

The company subsequently sold the batches to a wholesaler, which supplied the unsafe product to retailers and consumers across the country.

The Environment Agency worked in partnership with Rochdale Borough Council's public protection service throughout investigations – prosecutions for the illegal movement, storage and treatment of hazardous waste against another three parties in the supply chain are still pending.

Since the incident, Robert McBride Ltd has instigated a further recall of the Oven Pride cleaner, has addressed potential issues in their manufacturing procedures and has altered the labelling of its Oven Pride products.

After sentencing, Rochdale Borough Council's Cabinet Member for culture, health and wellbeing, Councillor Janet Emsley, said:

“The lack of care taken towards consumers in the case is shocking – and I am pleased to note that the sentences reflect the severity of the crimes.

“The safety of our communities and the environment is extremely important to us, so we will not hesitate to prosecute when that is put under serious risk.

“I hope that this serves as a warning that offences such as these will not be tolerated.”

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