Kevin Rees, 64, of Sidcup, received a severe 15-year prison sentence plus an additional year on licence at the Old Bailey today. The charges stem from a reckless act that could have ended in tragedy: causing an explosion under section 2 of the Explosive Substances Act 1883, which posed a real risk to life and property. He also faced three concurrent three-year sentences for homemade stun guns found at his home. On December 6, 2023, at around 6:45pm, Rees placed a metal cylinder filled with black powder next to a newly installed ULEZ camera on Willersley Avenue, lit the fuse, and walked away. The resulting explosion hurled shrapnel over 100 metres, damaging a passing car just below a woman’s seat, smashing a van, rattling nearby houses, and shattering a child’s bedroom window. Counter-terrorism police and the Crown Prosecution Service emphasised that it was pure luck that no one was killed or seriously hurt. The CPS made it clear: this was not a protest or a fleeting act of vandalism, but a dangerous act that could have had devastating consequences.