Key Points
- Kevin Rees, 63, from Sidcup, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison following a counter-terrorism investigation into a Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) camera blast.
- The defendant constructed a home-made bomb consisting of a metal cylinder filled with explosive black powder, which detonated on 6 December 2023.
- The blast damaged vehicles, property, and a child’s bedroom window up to 100 metres away, narrowly missing a passing double-decker bus.
- Woolwich Crown Court found Rees guilty of causing an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious damage to property, with a judicial determination of a terrorism connection.
- Rees received a concurrent three-year sentence for three counts of possessing prohibited weapons after police uncovered home-made stun guns at his residence.
- Police searches exposed explosive precursor chemicals, social media posts encouraging ULEZ vandalism, and deleted photos of the camera installation and explosion site.
South-East London (East London Times) October 2, 2026 – A 63-year-old man from Sidcup who constructed and detonated a home-made explosive device underneath a newly installed Ultra Low Emission Zone camera has been jailed for 15 years following a complex investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing London.
Woolwich Crown Court heard that Kevin Rees carried out the attack in Shuttle Close, Sidcup, on 6 December 2023 out of extreme opposition to the expanding clean-air scheme. His Honour Judge Determined during sentencing that the main offence carried a formal terrorism connection, passing a 15-year custodial sentence for causing an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious damage to property. The court also imposed a concurrent three-year sentence for three counts of possessing prohibited weapons—specifically home-made stun guns—while the presiding judge formally commended the counter-terrorism detectives for their thorough investigation.
How Was the ULEZ Bomb Attack Carried Out in South-East London?
According to court evidence presented during the trial, Rees drove his Smart car from his residential address in Sidcup to Shuttle Close shortly after 6:20 pm on 6 December 2023. The ULEZ camera at the locus had been fitted earlier that day, though court records show that in an unrelated incident, another individual had already cut the unit down before Rees arrived; that suspect was subsequently identified and convicted by the same policing team.
Rees parked his vehicle, walked a short distance to the felled camera apparatus, planted his improvised explosive device (IED), and lit an attached fuse. A eye-witness observed Rees walking briskly away from the scene moments before the unit exploded. Forensics teams later determined that the explosive device was made using a metal cylinder filled with black powder.
The force of the detonation resulted in extensive physical damage across a wide residential area. The blast blew out the tyre of a nearby vehicle, damaged an adjacent van, and tore through a brick wall, front porch, garden shed, and a children’s Wendy house. Metal shrapnel penetrated a passing motor car, embedding into the lower cushion of a passenger seat, while another metal projectile travelled over 100 metres through the air, striking and damaging the window frame of a child’s bedroom.
What Did Police Detectives Find During the Investigation into Kevin Rees?
CCTV footage retrieved from a public bus travelling down the street at the precise time of the detonation revealed that the vehicle narrowly escaped the trajectory of flying blast debris by mere seconds. Detective Chief Superintendent James Derham, who leads local policing in the Bexley area, described it as miraculous that nobody was killed or suffered severe physical injuries during the incident.
Counter Terrorism Policing London officers arrested Rees at his residential address on 18 December 2023. A comprehensive search of his property yielded three operational home-made stun guns alongside evidence of chemical procurement. Officers recovered a sealed postal package addressed to Rees containing aluminium powder, alongside a plastic bag filled with iron oxide—compounds commonly combined to produce low-explosive thermal mixtures. Additional materials stored in his loft demonstrated a sustained interest in chemical compounds capable of creating low explosives.
Digital forensic analysis of Rees’s mobile phone and personal online profiles revealed a clear anti-ULEZ motive. Detectives identified multiple social media posts published by Rees encouraging the destruction of ULEZ infrastructure. His mobile device contained a photograph of the Willersley Avenue camera being erected on 6 December 2023, which he deleted the following day. Further forensic recovery retrieved deleted screenshots of Facebook discussions regarding the blast and a photograph of emergency services at the scene on Willersley Avenue taken shortly after the detonation.
What Is the Background of the ULEZ Camera Development?
The Ultra Low Emission Zone was originally introduced in Central London in April 2019 to reduce air pollution by charging non-compliant, higher-emitting vehicles a daily fee to drive within designated boundaries. Overseen by Transport for London (TfL) and the Mayor of London, the zone was progressively expanded to cover all Inner London areas within the North and South Circular roads in October 2021.
In August 2023, the scheme underwent its most significant expansion to encompass all 32 London boroughs, extending the boundary to the outer edges of Greater London, including areas such as Bexley and Sidcup. This wide geographic enlargement brought thousands of additional suburban vehicle owners into the compliance regime, triggering public political debate, legal challenges from outer London councils, and widespread civil opposition.
During late 2023, opposition to the expanded infrastructure manifested in widespread physical anti-ULEZ direct action. Transport for London reported hundreds of monitoring cameras being disabled, spray-painted, masked, or physically severed by opponents of the scheme. Metropolitan Police Service resources and specialist units were deployed to monitor, investigate, and prosecute individuals targeting public traffic management and clean-air infrastructure across outer London boroughs.
How Will This Development Affect the General Public and Local Infrastructure Security?
The imposition of a 15-year custodial sentence with an explicit terrorism connection sets a firm judicial precedent for criminal actions targeted against public civil infrastructure. For local residents in outer London boroughs, the conviction provides official reassurance regarding public safety while highlighting the heightened danger posed by improvised explosive devices deployed in high-density residential areas.
The outcome signals a shift in law enforcement strategy regarding anti-government or anti-policy vandalism. By utilizing Counter Terrorism Policing London resources to investigate infrastructure sabotage and applying terrorism legislation during judicial sentencing, authorities have established that physical attacks on public property involving low explosives will be treated as acts of public endangerment rather than simple criminal damage.
For municipal transport bodies, infrastructure contractors, and local councils, the verdict reinforces security protocols around public monitoring networks. While routine vandalism or cutting of camera gantries remains handled under standard criminal law, the court’s sentencing remarks indicate that any escalation to improvised weapons or dangerous chemical compositions will incur severe custodial penalties designed to deter further high-risk acts of violent protest.
