Dad who shared post on Facebook encouraging damage to ULEZ cameras fined £5k

A father of three who shared a message on Facebook encouraging people to damage ULEZ cameras has been fined £5,000.

Joseph Nicholls, 43, was separately handed a suspended sentence for sending a threatening email to a company which provides cameras for the scheme.

Nicholls, of Foots Cray High Street, Sidcup, shared a post in a closed anti-ULEZ Facebook group in April last year which encouraged members to damage and dismantle the cameras, Woolwich Crown Court heard.

The defendant then sent an email on May 5, 2023, to Yunex Traffic intended to cause "distress or anxiety".

Prosecutor Charles Evans told the court Nicholls' note said: "If I see that little group of sad electricians (repairing cameras) I will smash each and every one of them in the face."

Yunex's tech has been "at the core" of ULEZ as well as similar schemes in Birmingham and Portsmouth, according to its website.

A police search later carried out at Nicholls's home found parts for two ULEZ cameras.

Defence barrister Claire Cooper told the court the parts were likely to have been brought into his home by other anti-ULEZ campaigners who had been there previously.

She said her client had never been on the streets causing damage to cameras himself.

Nicholls wept in the dock on Wednesday (September 25) when he was handed suspended jail sentences of 10 months for sharing the social media post and 18 weeks for the threatening email, to run concurrently.

He 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.

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

Recorder Andrew Hammond, sentencing, said: "The right 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 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 also said despite Nicholls not having damaged ULEZ cameras himself, he had contributed to a wider movement which had led to 174 cameras being vandalised in some way.

Vigilantes repeatedly targeted the cameras after ULEZ was expanded to cover all of London last year.

Vehicles which 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.

A spokesperson for Transport for London (TfL) described Nicholls' offences as "morally reprehensible".

They said: "This was a morally reprehensible attempt to disrupt a scheme that is helping millions of Londoners to breathe cleaner air.

"Toxic air leads to children growing up with stunted lungs and is linked to people developing dementia, cancer and other serious health conditions. Most poignantly it is attributed to thousands of premature deaths.

"We hope this sentence will act as a warning to those considering breaking the law and engaging in acts that could result in serious harm to themselves and others."