Guido Dumarey sentenced to prison for building a sheep stable in Latem

Businessman Guido Dumarey was sentenced to prison on Tuesday for environmental violations on his estate in Sint-Martens-Latem. The entrepreneur appeals against the ‘absurd’ decision.

Car entrepreneur Guido Dumarey has been sentenced to six months in prison, half of which is suspended, and a fine of 160,000 euros for construction and environmental violations on his estate on the border of Deinze and Sint-Martens-Latem. The Ghent criminal court decided this on Tuesday.

Dumarey bought the former farm and associated lands in 2015. He rebuilt the farm and had two sheep stables built on a pasture. According to the court, the latter happened without a permit in a nature reserve. Dumarey must remove the stables within one month and restore the ground level, on penalty of a penalty of 1,000 euros per day of delay.

In a response to De Tijd, Dumarey calls the verdict absurd. “I was treated very harshly,” he says. ‘As an entrepreneur you are always targeted. This concerns two sheep stables of fifteen square meters.’ He announces that he will use all legal means to oppose the verdict.

In the statement of reasons, the judge referred to his criminal history with 27 (older) convictions, 22 of which were for traffic offences, and to his ‘exceptional’ assets. “At the hearing he stated that he has an annual income of 20 million euros,” the court states in the judgment, which is reported by Belga, among others. ‘That may explain his boldness and his delusion of unapproachability. It would be inefficient and antisocial if this were not taken into account when determining the fine.’