Crying father avoids jail after encouraging vandalism of Ulez cameras

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A man who shared a Facebook post encouraging people to damage Ulez cameras and sent a threatening email to a company involved in the traffic scheme’s rollout across London has been spared jail.

Joseph Nicholls, aged 43, cried in the dock on Wednesday as he was handed two suspended prison sentences – of 10 months for sharing the social media post and 18 weeks for the threatening email, to run concurrently.

Woolwich Crown Court heard that the father of three – of Foots Cray High Street, in Sidcup – had shared a post in a closed anti-Ulez Facebook group in April 2023, in which he encouraged members to damage and dismantle the cameras monitoring London’s ultra-low emissions zone.

The defendant then sent an email shortly afterwards, on 5 May, to the company Yunex Traffic, whose infrastructure and technology have been “at the core” of London’s Ulez rollout as well as that of similar schemes in Birmingham and Portsmouth, according to its website.

Prosecutor Charles Evans said that the email stated: “If I see that little group of sad electricians [repairing cameras] I will smash each and every one of them in the face.”

A police search later carried out at Nicholls’s home found parts of two Ulez cameras.

Defence barrister Claire Cooper told the court that her client had never been on the streets causing damage to cameras himself, and that the parts were likely to have been brought into his home by other anti-Ulez campaigners who had previously gathered there.

At his sentencing on Wednesday, Nicholls was ordered to pay £1,630 in prosecution costs, £5,000 in compensation to Yunex Traffic, and a £187 victim surcharge. He agreed to pay the £6,817 total in instalments of £200 per month.

He will also have to carry out 15 days of rehabilitation activity requirements and 150 hours of unpaid work.

Sentencing Nicholls, the recorder, Andrew Hammond, said: “The rights and wrongs of Ulez are not a matter for this court, but in any event, this case is not about Ulez but the rule of law.

“[Your email] was a deliberate attempt on your part to intimidate other people. These people you threatened were employees performing something akin to a public service. They have the right to perform their jobs without fear of intimidation or threats of violence.

“These offences were the result of your poor temper and control, and poor consequential thinking on your part.”

The judge said that, despite Nicholls having never damaged Ulez cameras himself, he had contributed to a wider movement that had led to 174 cameras being vandalised in some way.

Vigilantes repeatedly targeted the cameras after the Ulez area was expanded to cover all of London last year. Vehicles that do not meet minimum emissions standards are required to pay a £12.50 daily fee when used in the Ulez zone, or face a fine.

Videos have been posted online showing vigilantes described as “Blade Runners” cutting the cameras’ wires or completely removing the devices.

Additional reporting by PA