A vicious plant hire boss who terrorised rivals with arson and threats has been ordered to pay them and insurance companies hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation and has had 15 months added to his 12-year prison sentence.
Last month Jack Frederick Leonard Harvey, 69, was jailed for 12 years after he was convicted of torching hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of machinery in Devon and Cornwall.
Yesterday at Truro Crown Court he was ordered to pay them and insurance companies a total of £786,643 and £19,000 prosecution costs.
At a hearing last month Harvey, of Polwhele, Truro, received the 15-month sentence after admitting nine counts of handling stolen goods. Initially he had been charged with 39 counts and the Crown accepted the guilty pleas – the remaining 30 will lie on the file.
Kate Brunner, prosecuting, said the stolen goods were rollers, trailers, breakers and skips which had been snatched between 2002 and 2008.
She said: "Most were stolen from business sites and had been stolen from across the South West and the Midlands.
"The number plates on some of them had been removed.
"The value at the time at auction was between £17,000 and £27,000."
Ms Brunner said Harvey had initially claimed he bought them at auction.
During the three-week arson trial the jury heard Harvey targeted five other firms with arson attacks and intimidation.
Yesterday, Harvey was ordered to pay competitors Willshire of Newquay £1,000 and Tetlaw of Newton Abbot £40,000.
Harvey also burned machines belonging to Cormac, who carry out Cornwall Council's road repairs, in revenge attacks for losing out on council contracts.
He was ordered to pay the company £103,000.
NFU Mutual, which insured Tetlaw, will receive £607,643 and Aviva, which insured Willshire, £35,000.
Judge Christopher Elwen gave Harvey six months to pay.
Before sentence was passed defence Robert Linford argued for a concurrent sentence and for mercy to be shown because of Harvey's age.
He said: "He is going to be 75 or 76 by the time he comes out of prison and it serves no purpose to add to that period of incarceration."
Mr Linford said a confiscation hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act due to be heard next year would also take its toll on Harvey.
Judge Elwen said he did not follow Mr Linford's reasoning. He told Harvey: "These matters are wholly separate from the arsons.
"You knew these items were stolen. You used them in your business."
Speaking after the court case, Det Supt Michele Slevin said: "I think the sentence being consecutive reflects the fact it was a totally separate criminal act which he has benefited from significantly over the years.
"Through the use of criminal assets he built up a vast empire."
During the arson trial the court heard Harvey believed his name alone was enough to frighten off potential witnesses.
Accomplices, Alan James Dunn and Allan Percy Peters, both from Truro, were jailed for seven years each for helping Harvey in his reign of terror.
Harvey's family-run plant hire business perched on the outskirts of Truro, has been operating for decades.
When his efforts to win contracts or scare off the competition were thwarted he recruited associates who would travel around the Devon and Cornwall area setting fire to machinery.
Harvey was finally brought to justice after police launched a 48-hour raid on his business premises in May 2009.
It was during this raid the stolen property he was sentenced for yesterday was recovered.
During the search officers unearthed about £15,000 in cash, and two-and-a-half kilos of heroin, with a street value of £250,000.
Last month Jack Frederick Leonard Harvey, 69, was jailed for 12 years after he was convicted of torching hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of machinery in Devon and Cornwall.
Yesterday at Truro Crown Court he was ordered to pay them and insurance companies a total of £786,643 and £19,000 prosecution costs.
At a hearing last month Harvey, of Polwhele, Truro, received the 15-month sentence after admitting nine counts of handling stolen goods. Initially he had been charged with 39 counts and the Crown accepted the guilty pleas – the remaining 30 will lie on the file.
Kate Brunner, prosecuting, said the stolen goods were rollers, trailers, breakers and skips which had been snatched between 2002 and 2008.
She said: "Most were stolen from business sites and had been stolen from across the South West and the Midlands.
"The number plates on some of them had been removed.
"The value at the time at auction was between £17,000 and £27,000."
Ms Brunner said Harvey had initially claimed he bought them at auction.
During the three-week arson trial the jury heard Harvey targeted five other firms with arson attacks and intimidation.
Yesterday, Harvey was ordered to pay competitors Willshire of Newquay £1,000 and Tetlaw of Newton Abbot £40,000.
Harvey also burned machines belonging to Cormac, who carry out Cornwall Council's road repairs, in revenge attacks for losing out on council contracts.
He was ordered to pay the company £103,000.
NFU Mutual, which insured Tetlaw, will receive £607,643 and Aviva, which insured Willshire, £35,000.
Judge Christopher Elwen gave Harvey six months to pay.
Before sentence was passed defence Robert Linford argued for a concurrent sentence and for mercy to be shown because of Harvey's age.
He said: "He is going to be 75 or 76 by the time he comes out of prison and it serves no purpose to add to that period of incarceration."
Mr Linford said a confiscation hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act due to be heard next year would also take its toll on Harvey.
Judge Elwen said he did not follow Mr Linford's reasoning. He told Harvey: "These matters are wholly separate from the arsons.
"You knew these items were stolen. You used them in your business."
Speaking after the court case, Det Supt Michele Slevin said: "I think the sentence being consecutive reflects the fact it was a totally separate criminal act which he has benefited from significantly over the years.
"Through the use of criminal assets he built up a vast empire."
During the arson trial the court heard Harvey believed his name alone was enough to frighten off potential witnesses.
Accomplices, Alan James Dunn and Allan Percy Peters, both from Truro, were jailed for seven years each for helping Harvey in his reign of terror.
Harvey's family-run plant hire business perched on the outskirts of Truro, has been operating for decades.
When his efforts to win contracts or scare off the competition were thwarted he recruited associates who would travel around the Devon and Cornwall area setting fire to machinery.
Harvey was finally brought to justice after police launched a 48-hour raid on his business premises in May 2009.
It was during this raid the stolen property he was sentenced for yesterday was recovered.
During the search officers unearthed about £15,000 in cash, and two-and-a-half kilos of heroin, with a street value of £250,000.
