The trial continues in the Central Criminal Court sitting in Galway of three Mayo refuse collector companies and their directors, alongside a former county secretary for charges relating to breaching the competition Act 2002.
The three waste companies and their directors who face charges are: Stanley Bourke, Bourke Waste Removal Limited, Westport; Patrick McGrath and Declan McGrath from McGrath Industrial Waste Limited, Castlebar; and Paul Gleeson, Wheeley Environmental Refuse Services, trading as WERS Waste of Weir Road, Tuam, Galway. The defendants are charged with entering into an agreement between August 24 2005 and September 2 2005 which had as its object the prevention, restriction, or distortion of competition in the provision of domestic waste collection services in County Mayo by sharing the market and by sharing customers.
Former county secretary Padraig Hughes, Snugboro, Castlebar, is charged with aiding and abetting the three named waste businesses by entering into such an agreement.
The three waste companies and their directors each face two charges while Hughes faces six charges. All men deny the 20 charges and it is expected that 17 witnesses will be called, with the trial to last almost a week.
