A Glouchestershire farmer has been convicted in court of illegally discharging slurry into a river due to a leaking pipe and has been ordered to pay £7,048.
The case, which was investigated and brought by the Environment Agency, was heard at Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court on Monday, September 29, 2025.
Timothy Juckes, age 48, of Tredington House Farm, Tredington, near Tewkesbury, pleaded guilty to illegally discharging slurry into the River Swilgate over November 14-15, 2022.
He was subsequently fined £1,086, and ordered to pay costs of £5,528.50 and a victim’s surcharge of £434.
Investigation
The court was told that the Environment Agency received reports of pollution at Tredington on November 16, 2022.
According to the Environment Agency’s investigation, their officers attended the site and conducted a survey which identified the source of the pollution as the farm, noting a strong slurry smell, brown discoloured water, and some dead fish.
It was reported that water samples showed oxygen levels were low and there were elevated levels of ammonia in the river.
Defence
The defendant told the officers that he had started pumping slurry from one lagoon to another on November 14.
Juckes allegedly had laid the pipe within the watercourse during the incident.
He told the Environment Agency officers that he would normally support the pipe over the river, but on this occasion did not want to carry equipment on a tractor across a wet re-seeded field.
He also stated that he did not put the pipe across a bridge over the watercourse as he was tending sheep and a stock box could not get over the bridge with the pipe there.
Environment Agency
Commenting on the conviction, a spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “This pollution case was entirely preventable and shows that our officers will seek out farmers who ignore the regulations.
“This case has resulted in unacceptable pollution of a local brook, causing significant harm to fish and other aquatic wildlife.
“If anyone is concerned about pollution or an environmental incident, they should call our 24-7 incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.”
