Angry carpenter vandalised ULEZ camera because he felt 'penalised' after facing daily charges in order to care for his brother, court hears

An angry carpenter covered a ULEZ camera with white paint because he felt 'penalised' when he was hit with a £12.50 charge whenever he used his car, a court heard.

Stephen Nunn, 60, was caught by police spray-painting the camera in Hayes Lane, Bromley in October last year.

Police questioned Nunn before searching his home in West Wickham, where they found posters and other paraphernalia relating to the anti-ULEZ campaign, Bromley Magistrates' Court heard.

Althea Moore, prosecuting, said: 'At 10.20pm on the October 27 in Hayes Lane, Bromley, officers patrolling the area on an unrelated matter came across the defendant.

'He was dressed in what they described as all black, carrying a long pole with a mechanism on the top, a spraying device, which he has pointed at the ULEZ camera, spraying it with white paint.

'He was stopped and searched and spoken to, and due to their concerns a search was conducted at his address, and many other items relating to the campaign against ULEZ cameras was discovered at his address.'

This included posters and other campaign material, and the court was shown a photograph of one of the posters, which stated that Rishi Sunak had 'Blood on his Hands'.

Ms Moore added: 'TfL are aware of the damage, and the operation to clean a camera is £349.78 on average per unit.'

The court was shown photographs of the spraying device and the camera covered with white paint.

Nunn's defence barrister Len Hodkin told the court that the introduction of ULEZ had created significant problems for Nunn.

He was being charged £12.50 each time he left the house to care for his brother, who has bipolar disorder, or go shopping.

Nunn had worked as a self-employed carpenter for the last 40 years, but that came to an end two years ago when he had an operation on his shoulder, the court heard.

'He and his wife fell upon hard times as he was the sole breadwinner so he used up his life savings, and had to borrow money to keep the household going,' Mr Hodkin.

'Once the charges came in it became apparent he couldn't afford to pay £12.50 every day so he had to pass the cost onto his customers, which made him less competitive.

'He's not a young man who can carry his tools on public transport. Around the day in question he had to look after his brother who suffers from bipolar disorder.

'Every time he leaves the house he has got to pay £12.50, to visit his brother or go shopping.'

The device used to spray the camera was just a tool for destroying wasps' nests that Nunn already owned, said Mr Hodkin.

He added: 'The implement in question is an implement used to remove wasps nests from his property, and that's the reason Mr Nunn had the implement.'

He also said that anti-ULEZ campaign material the police found at his home was the kind of publicity material handed out by campaigners in the street.

Nunn was a 'hard-working man who has fallen on financial difficulties', and he has never been in trouble with the police before, he said.

'The offence was the culmination of two or three years of financial hardship, having to look after his brother and perceiving himself as being penalised due to the implementation of ULEZ. It's a very divisive topic.'

Magistrate Phiroze Neemuchwala said he was satisfied that the use of the spraying device indicated Nunn's actions were premeditated.

He said the offence warranted the imposition of a community order.

Nunn, of Corkscrew Hill, West Wickham, admitted damaging property. He was released on unconditional bail ahead of the sentencing hearing on 13 December.

Earlier this month the Met Police revealed there have been 987 crimes relating to the cameras in the capital, including 220 reports of them being stolen and 767 being damaged.