Friend calls 15-year jail term for ULEZ camera bomber disproportionate
Kevin Rees, a 63-year-old retired electrical engineer who opposed London’s ULEZ scheme, was jailed for 15 years after using a homemade bomb to destroy a camera in Sidcup in December 2023. His friend Paul Jenner says the sentence is politically motivated and disproportionate, while police stressed that the blast could have killed or seriously injured people.
The explosion sent shrapnel more than 100 metres, damaged a child’s bedroom window and a playhouse, and narrowly missed a bus, according to police. Rees was convicted of causing an explosion with intent to endanger life; the judge found the offence had a terrorism connection, which resulted in a tougher sentence and strict controls on release. ULEZ was expanded across London in 2023, with cameras used to enforce charges on more polluting vehicles.
- Kevin Rees received 15 years for bombing a ULEZ camera.
- His friend calls the sentence politically motivated and excessive.
- The blast sent debris over 100 metres and damaged nearby homes.
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London's ULEZ scheme charges drivers of more polluting vehicles to enter certain areas of the capital. The system uses cameras to enforce the charges. Kevin Rees, a 63-year-old retired electrical engineer, opposed the scheme.
In December 2023, Rees used a homemade bomb to destroy a ULEZ camera in Sidcup. The explosion sent shrapnel more than 100 metres, damaged nearby property including a child's bedroom window, and narrowly missed a bus. Police said the blast could have killed or seriously injured people.
Rees was convicted of causing an explosion with intent to endanger life and sentenced to 15 years in prison. The judge ruled that the offence had a terrorism connection, which resulted in a longer sentence and strict conditions on his release.
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The case for
The defendant targeted infrastructure rather than attempting to harm individuals and was motivated by political opposition rather than intent to kill; comparable property crimes and even some violent offences receive substantially lighter sentences, suggesting that 15 years—particularly enhanced on terrorism grounds for an act of sabotage—is disproportionate and may conflate protest-motivated property damage with genuine terrorism; at 63 years old, this sentence amounts effectively to life imprisonment.
The case against
The defendant constructed and detonated an actual homemade bomb with significant destructive force, sending shrapnel over 100 metres and placing multiple lives in genuine jeopardy, including a child in a nearby bedroom and passengers on a passing bus; this demonstrates reckless indifference to human life irrespective of explicit intent, and the terrorism enhancement is justified because the act was politically motivated violence designed to compel policy change through force; allowing such methods to be lightly punished would normalise violent sabotage and fatally undermine the rule of law.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Ulez bomber should not have been jailed for 15 years for blowing up one of Sadiq Khan’s cameras, says friend”.