Ulez camera explosion captured by CCTV footage

A man accused of causing the explosion of an ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) camera in south-east London has told a court he does not recall where he was or what he was doing at the time of the incident.

A video has also been released by the Met Police showing the moment the camera exploded in CCTV footage.

Retired electrical appliances engineer Kevin Rees is on trial at Woolwich Crown Court accused of damaging the camera in Willersley Avenue, Sidcup.

He allegedly used a low-sophistication, improvised explosive device (IED) at about 18:45 GMT on 6 December 2023.

The 63-year-old defendant was also captured on CCTV leaving his home in Harcourt Avenue that evening carrying a "bag of tools", before returning at 19:05 with the bag empty.

He told jurors he has no recollection of his whereabouts during that time.

"It's almost a blank," he said as prosecutor Simon Denison KC cross-examined him on Wednesday.

Rees had told counter terrorism police, following his arrest on 18 December, that he had been at a friend's house on the evening of 6 December.

But CCTV footage again showed Rees left his friend's home address mid-afternoon that day and did not return in the evening, jurors heard.

"I have seen the CCTV of his house and my house so, obviously, I was not at his," Rees said.

"But still, in my head, I was at his, for some reason."

Rees told jurors the bag he was filmed carrying to his car contained tools required for a different job at another friend's house.

"You cannot tell us who that was?" Denison asked.

"No, I can't," Rees replied.

"Wherever you went, you took your tools with you and you left them there, because you didn't have them when you came back," the prosecution continued.

"So where did you leave your tools on the evening of 6 December?"

"Good question," Rees replied.

The prosecution also asked Rees about screenshots the defendant took after returning to his home on the evening of 6 December.

"At 19:15 GMT, so within 10 minutes of you getting home, you were on the local news sites reading about the entries related to a loud bang.

"You took a screenshot. That's not a coincidence, is it, Mr Rees?"

"Are you sure?" Rees replied, before adding: "First thing you do when you get home: check your phone, you have notifications, messages, and you look at them."

Other screenshots were of comments on a local Facebook group about the explosion that had just taken place, the court was told.

One screenshot, taken at 19:16, showed a comment that read: "What was the loud bang just now?"

Another contained a comment that said the Ulez camera in Willersley Avenue had been blown up and "shot at someone's house and porch".

"They set all the dogs off. So loud," another comment read.

Rees deleted all these screenshots the next day, the court heard.

Rees denies all charge and the trial continues.

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