Judge Anthony Bate at the Old Bailey jailed 64-year-old retired electrical engineer Kevin Rees for 15 years on Friday after he was found guilty of “causing an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property”, and three counts of “possessing a prohibited weapon”, namely a collection of homemade taser-like stun guns.
Rees denied all charges, but the court heard that he had run Facebook groups that agitated against the rollout of the network of smart surveillance cameras enabling the Ultra-Low Emission Zone initiative of London Mayor Sadiq Khan. Under the now well established system, owners of cars with older engines — which the Mayor decries as being more polluting — have to pay a steep daily fee to drive in and around London.
Critics decried the network as climate spy cameras and said the rule heavily penalised working class tradesmen who rely on diesel trucks for business, and who couldn’t switch to carrying materials and tools on public transport.
A group of anti-camera activists, who identified themselves as ‘blade runners’ went about sabotaging the cameras, often on the same day they were installed by contractors, cutting cables or even felling the posts. Hundreds of cameras were vandalised.