Man, 53, accused of blowing up Ulez digital camera with explosive ‘thought he was being arrested by “Facebook police” for posts’, court docket hears
A man accused of blowing up a Ulez camera on a street in east London thought ‘Facebook police’ had come to arrest him, a court has heard.
Kevin Rees was detained by counter-terrorism officers after the ‘low-sophistication’ device exploded in Willersley Avenue, Sidcup on December 6, 2023.
The 63-year-old defendant, who is on trial at Woolwich Crown Court, has insisted he had ‘no involvement whatsoever’ in the incident.
Giving evidence today, he told the jury: ‘I assumed it was just the so-called Facebook police.
‘People you hear being arrested for making bad or inappropriate comments on Facebook pages – that’s well-known, as it’s been on the news.
‘The thing is, I didn’t actually do anything wrong.’
Defence counsel Simon Ray asked: ‘Are you responsible for that explosion?’
Rees replied: ‘No, I’m not. Not something I would do.’
Kevin Rees was detained by counter-terrorism officers after the ‘low-sophistication’ device exploded in Willersley Avenue, Sidcup on December 6, 2023. Forensics are pictured examining the site
Jurors heard the Ulez camera in Willersley Avenue had already been damaged earlier on December 6, 2023, by a man called Stephen Harwood-Stamper – who later pleaded guilty to criminal damage.
Mr Harwood-Stamper cut the camera pole down before a different individual caused the camera to explode later on the same day, when it was already on the ground.
Rees, a retired domestic appliance service engineer, told jurors he had never spoken to or heard of Mr Harwood-Stamper and first learned of the explosion on Willersley Avenue through a Facebook group for local news.
When he was arrested on December 18, 2023, Rees made reference to the previous explosion and asked officers if his arrest had ‘something to do with the anti-Ulez sites’.
‘There was only one explosion that was on the news and that was the one in Sidcup,’ Rees told jurors.
When interviewed by police on his whereabouts on the evening of December 6 2023, Rees told them he was at a friend’s house, which he had been visiting regularly as he was fitting in a new kitchen.
However, footage from nearby CCTV cameras showed Rees had left his friend’s home address mid-afternoon that day and did not return in the evening, jurors heard.
‘I was 100 per cent convinced I was at his house – as I still am now, in my head,’ Rees told jurors.
The 63-year-old defendant, who is on trial at Woolwich Crown Court, has insisted he had ‘no involvement whatsoever’ in the incident
‘But I have seen CCTV of me leaving the property, so, obviously, I was not there.’
When asked why he was interested in Ulez cameras and the Facebook groups that opposed them, Rees replied: ‘Boredom, and, almost, a community.
‘I’m retired, not much else to do – didn’t particularly interest me that much.’
Rees is charged with one count of causing an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property, and three counts of possessing a prohibited weapons.
The latter charges relate to ‘stun guns’ the prosecution alleges were found at Rees’s home address during a police search following his arrest.
Rees, however, denied the devices were stun guns and said he made them himself.
The defendant, from Harcourt Avenue in Sidcup, Kent, further told jurors he took ‘great pleasure’ in ‘tinkering about with electrical devices’ due to his professional background.
The trial continues.
