Man guilty of Ulez camera explosion

A man has been convicted of blowing up an ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) camera in south-east London.

Kevin Rees, 63, was arrested by counter-terror police after what has been described as a low-sophistication improvised explosive device (IED) damaged the camera in Willersley Avenue, Sidcup, in December 2023.

Rees used a homemade bomb, a metal cylinder filled with explosive powder, to cause the explosion, which also damaged cars and property up to 100m (328ft) away, including a child’s bedroom.

He denied one count of causing an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property and three counts of possessing prohibited weapons. He will be sentenced at a later date.

Det Supt James Derham said it was “remarkable” the explosion triggered by Rees did not result in people being seriously injured or even killed.

He said Rees had put the public at significant risk out of anger over the Ulez scheme.

“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,” Derham added.

A jury at Woolwich Crown Court heard how Rees drove from his Sidcup home to Shuttle Close on 6 December 2023, where he planted and ignited an explosive device beneath a newly installed Ulez camera.

Rees, of Harcourt Avenue, was seen by a witness walking quickly away from the scene.

The explosion damaged a van opposite and blew out the tyre of a car as well as damaging a wall, front porch, shed and a Wendy house.

Shrapnel also shot through a passing car into a passenger seat, while another piece of metal damaged the window frame of a child’s bedroom.

Forensic tests showed the device used black powder. Officers found aluminium powder and other materials linked to homemade explosives at Rees’s home, along with three improvised stun guns.

Bethan David, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s counter-terrorism division, said: “This was not an act of protest or momentary vandalism. This was a deliberate and dangerous attack involving a homemade explosive device, carried out in a residential street and designed to destroy public infrastructure.

“Whatever his views on the Ulez scheme, Kevin Rees crossed a serious line by constructing a homemade bomb and detonating it in a public place. It was pure chance that no-one suffered serious injury or worse.”

BBC News