This is the moment a man used a home-made bomb to blow up a ULEZ camera in southeast London.
Kevin Rees, 63, blew up the camera in Wellesley Avenue, Sidcup, in December 2023, with shrapnel damaging cars and houses 100m away.
Rees was convicted in January at Woolwich Crown Court of causing an explosion likely to endanger life, and was sentenced to 15 years in jail at the Old Bailey on Friday.
During the trial, he told the jury that he "strongly opposed" the ULEZ scheme and the mayor of London, Lord Sadiq Khan.
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The jury had heard that Rees travelled in his Smart car from his home in Sidcup to Shuttle Close, where the ULEZ camera had been installed earlier that day.
He planted the device and lit a fuse, and was then seen by a witness walking quickly away from the scene.
The explosion blew out the tyre of a nearby car, damaged a nearby wall, front porch, shed and Wendy house, and a piece of metal damaged the window frame of a child’s bedroom more than 100m away.
Despite the extensive damage, nobody was injured in the blast.
Rees was swiftly identified as the suspect, and he was arrested on December 18.
Upon searching his home, officers found chemicals that could be used to make explosives, and discovered that he had used social media to post numerous times about ULEZ cameras and encouraged the damaging of them.
Rees denied any involvement in the explosion, telling jurors he believed his arrest was due to his posts in "anti-Ulez" groups on Facebook.
Judge Anthony Bate determined that the offence was carried out with a “terrorism connection”, which resulted in a tougher sentence and stricter controls after Rees's release.
Siwan Hayward, TfL's director of security, policing and enforcement, described Rees's actions as "a reckless and highly dangerous act that could have caused serious harm and resulted in the loss of life".
She added: "Tampering with or damaging TfL's property is unacceptable and seriously risks the safety of the public. Those attempting to interfere with ULEZ infrastructure show a complete disregard for the law.
"Any such incident on our network is reported to the police and will not stop the ULEZ operating."
Detective Chief Superintendent James Derham, who leads local policing in the Bexley area, said: “It was miraculous that nobody was killed or seriously injured in the large explosion caused by Rees.
“He showed a complete disregard for the welfare and safety of the people who live in, or were travelling through, the area at the time of the explosion – all because he was unhappy with the ULEZ scheme.
"CCTV from a bus travelling down the road at the time shows how it narrowly missed the blast of debris by seconds.”
