Gary Dainton receives 12 month suspended sentence after falsifying documents in relation to Rochdale homes

Gary Dainton, a soil testing expert, has received a 12 month suspended jail sentence after it emerged he had falsified certificates allowing homes and school units to be built on potentially hazardous land across Greater Manchester, including six houses on Earl Street in Castleton.

The Castleton houses - built next to a former landfill - were amongst those that should have had soil samples taken and tested by Dainton before they were built.

Dainton 47, from Westhougton, Bolton, pleaded guilty to two counts of obtaining property by deception and six counts of fraud at a hearing at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Friday 22 August.

A further 17 offences were ordered to lie on file.

Dainton, a director at Dragonfly Environmental, Consulting Site and Investigation, was employed by developers to carry out testing on sites to assess their safety for potential contamination.

In 2012, High Peak Borough Council became suspicious of a report submitted by Dainton and notified police as well as alerting councils across Greater Manchester, including Rochdale Council.

He was later arrested and admitted faking goods.

As well as homes in Rochdale, an investigation found sites issued with falsified certificates included a media centre at Elton High School in Bury and a unit for nursery and reception children at All Saints Church of England Primary school in Whitefield.

Minshull Street Crown Court was told during the hearing that urgent tests were carried out on the sites which proved clear.

Dainton claimed the pressures of caring for two children with cerebral palsy and a third who needed constant care following a serious accident had driven him to cut corners.

Dragonfly Environmental has since been dissolved.