Date: July 2026
On 22 July 2026, the Environment Agency commenced criminal proceedings against Southern Water. The press release is available to read on the gov.uk website, and pasted verbatim below:
EA commences criminal proceedings against Southern Water
The Administrative Court has today handed down a significant judgment confirming the Environment Agency’s powers to prosecute former employees of Southern Water.
Four former employees from Southern Water, including the former Chief Executive Officer Matthew Wright, face a charge of conspiracy to defraud.
It is alleged that between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2017 the individuals conspired to defraud the Environment Agency and Ofwat by the implementation of artificial no-flow events at waste water treatment works operated by Southern Water to manipulate the Operator Self-Monitoring (OSM) compliance testing regime.
Conspiracy to defraud is a common law offence carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment. The case will now proceed before the Medway Magistrates Court.
OSM was introduced for the water industry in 2009 and requires water companies to take samples at their wastewater treatment works and report the results to the Environment Agency. Strict rules govern how samples must be taken to ensure their independence and accuracy. It is an offence if there is evidence that flows or data are deliberately manipulated to avoid compliance checks.
Southern Water will separately face charges of breaching environmental permits linked to the same conduct. Three further individuals will also face charges linked to failure to comply with environmental permits.
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We can confirm that we are taking criminal proceedings against Southern Water Services Limited and a number of former employees. We take our responsibility to protect the environment very seriously and will always pursue and prosecute those alleged to have committed serious offending against the environment. We welcome this important judgment.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
- The Judgement has been published here – Matthew Wright, R (on the application of) v Medway Magistrates’ Court – Find Case Law – The National Archives
- The Environment Agency has confirmed today that it has commenced criminal proceedings against Southern Water and four of the company’s former employees – Matthew Wright, Philip Barker, Clive Massey and Mark Gregory.
- Three further individuals will also face charges linked to failure to comply with environmental permits – Mark Butler, Terry Stephens and David James
- The charges follow a complex inquiry by the Environment Agency and are based on evidence secured over many years of investigation.
- As these are live proceedings, we are unable to comment further or provide additional information at this time.
- It has been necessary to deal with the challenge through the courts before it was considered safe to announce. The judgment shows that anonymity was granted by the High Court at an early stage, which the Agency challenged.
What this means for Southern Water customers
This is a promising development. Since privatisation in 1989, no water company executive has ever been sent to prison for sewage pollution, despite decades of illegal discharges.
Fines have clearly not worked as a deterrant and are just the cost of business to these companies.
With Andy Burnham now in No. 10, we’ll wait to see if nationalisation is on the table. Until then, we need to keep the pressure up on Southern Water to make them know we are not happy with how their are (not) treating our sewage.
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