A man who cut down a ULEZ camera before it was destroyed in an explosion said he has lost his job and caused his children embarrassment.
Horsham man Stephen Harwood-Stamper, 63, used an angle grinder to cut down the camera in Sidcup before another individual caused it to explode.
The 63-year-old pleaded guilty to criminal damage and on Monday, October 6, he was sentenced to a community order.
Prosecutor Charles Drinnan told Woolwich Crown Court that on the morning of December 6, 2023, the ULEZ camera was installed at the junction of White Oak Gardens and Willersley Avenue.
“Later that day the defendant drove to the camera and used an angle grinder to cut down the pole. The camera was later destroyed by an improvised explosive device, although that’s not linked to this defendant,” Mr Drinnan said.
Harwood-Stamper wrote a letter to the court apologising for his behaviour.
He wrote that he and his wife had raised three highly successful children who have been “tainted and embarrassed by the public shame caused by their father”.
The court heard that Harwood-Stamper was interviewed by counter-terrorism police in relation to the incident.
Markus Finlay, defending, said his client’s actions had caused him to lose his job and his pension.
“He was an assistant engineer in the City of London doing a very technical job. He’s now a labourer,” Mr Finlay said.
Judge Philip Shorrock told the defendant: “Taking the law into your hands is never a good idea and you learnt that lesson the hard way.
“This kind of thing is far more popular than it should be, whether you agree with the Mayor of London and his policies or not.”
Judge Shorrock rejected Mr Finlay’s call to give Harwood-Stamper an absolute discharge, the most lenient sentence possible, as this would encourage others to engage in similar behaviour.
But he acknowledged that Harwood-Stamper did not need rehabilitating as “this was a moment of madness on his part”.
The defendant was given a one-year community order including 80 hours of unpaid work.
He was ordered to pay £2,467 compensation to Transport for London.
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