THE former boss of a troubled waste firm has been criticised by a Crown court judge for not providing 'satisfactory' answers to questions around his financial circumstances.

Ruby Waste Management Ltd's former boss Anthony Small came under fire from Judge Graham Cottle, who said he had to 'drag' financial information out of the defendant.

Judge Cottle made his comments when Small, 42, of Littlehempston, appeared before Exeter Crown Court on Monday after pleading guilty to a charge of depositing controlled waste at Ruby Farm, Abbotskerswell, otherwise than in accordance with an environmental permit.

Judge Cottle expressed his displeasure with Small's answers to questions regarding his finances when he took to the witness stand.

Judge Cottle said: "I expect to have more assistance about his financial position from him without it having to be dragged out of him."

The complex case dates back three years and revolves around Ruby Waste Management Ltd, Small and Ruby Farm landowner Frederick Charles Down.

In October 2007 Ruby Waste Management Ltd was fined £24,000 plus £2,000 court costs for breaching recycling regulations, in a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency.

The Environment Agency served notices with deadlines, later extended, for the removal of the waste.

When officers visited the site they found the waste had been moved elsewhere within the site in breach of the environmental permit, the court heard.

That led to the prosecution of Down, as the landowner and permit-holder, and Small, who was the site manager and company managing director.

Down appeared before magistrates in Newton Abbot last November and pleaded guilty to three counts of contravening the requirements of the environmental permit and failing to comply with an enforcement notice.

He was fined a total of £25,000.

Small pleaded not guilty to depositing controlled waste otherwise than in accordance with an environmental permit, and elected for his case to be heard at Exeter Crown Court. At Monday's hearing he changed his plea to guilty.

In mitigation Small said he had every intention of trying to dispose of the waste but was beset by problems.

He claimed waste company Viridor terminated a waste removal agreement in 2008 and provided an email in evidence, but no further documents to substantiate his claim.

The availability of a site in Plymouth also ceased and he ran into problems with transport costs after striking a deal with Dorset-based Biffa, he said.

The waste was eventually removed after the Viridor agreement was reinstated.

Judge Cottle said the defendant's case had some 'odd features' and the alleged dispute with Viridor would remain a mystery.

"There really isn't any satisfactory explanation as to how that state of affairs may have come about," he said.

"The upshot is, I can't safely draw any conclusions to this aspect of the case and it remains unexplained and uncertain."

Small said he pumped £190,000 of his own money into keeping Ruby Waste Management afloat but the firm later went into liquidation.

While under oath, Small said he could only pay back any court fine in £100 monthly instalments because his financial commitments meant there was 'not a lot left'.

Small said he was paid £3,100 a month by Antrac, a skip hire company trading as Cox Waste Management, based in Kingskerswell.

He said outgoings, including maintenance of £1,800 to his wife and £825 in rent, left him with a personal allowance of £475.

In financial documents submitted to the court it was revealed Small was the sole director of Antrac and annual accounts up to June 2009 showed it had a turnover of £2.1million.

Accounts and a balance sheet to June 2010 painted a 'larger picture' of Small's financial circumstances, Judge Cottle said.

Papers revealed it had total assets of £218,000, as of June, and £13,000 in a bank account.

Judge Cottle said: "In assessing the level of fine imposed I must take into account the financial circumstances. That has been an unsatisfactory aspect of this case.

"It is perfectly clear from the evidence that he is the sole director of a business with a substantial turnover.

"It is incumbent on the defendant to provide the court with his financial circumstances in cases of this sort.

"He has pleaded guilty to an offence that traditionally carries with it a substantial fine.

"The offence was clearly perfectly deliberate, in that Mr Small was not prepared to pay the rates required to dispose of this waste.

"The breach was against a background for conviction of keeping waste on land without a licence.

"A very large volume was on the site — 24 times the permitted amount — for something like three years."

He fined Small £10,000 with £3,500 costs and a victim surcharge of £15.