Exclusive
Sadiq Khan issues warning to Ulez vandals after six-year-old girl injured in car crash due to camera destruction
19 January 2024, 11:22 | Updated: 19 January 2024, 11:24
Sadiq Khan has issued a warning to Ulez vandals after a six-year-old girl was injured due to a camera being torn down.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
The young girl was injured in a car crash after a Ulez camera in south east London, positioned on top of a set of traffic lights, was pulled to the ground by vandals.
The Metropolitan Police has warned those behind the attack to "stop immediately", which comes after a separate Ulez camera was blown up by an explosive device last year.
The Mayor of London issued his own warning to the vandals, warning them that the injury to the young girl could have been much worse.
“The decision to expand the Ulez was a difficult decision for me to take but it was the right one for me to make,” he told LBC's James O'Brien.
“I understand there are people, though, there are people who oppose my policy of expanding the Ulez
“I think it’s legitimate to protest but the way to protest should be lawful, peaceful and safe.
“This is just one example of the consequences of those who are against the Ulez breaking the law because we’ve got a situation where a child has been injured as a consequence of action from those who are anti-Ulez.
“I’d encourage them to protest in a way that’s lawful, peaceful and safe because what we don’t want, God forbid, is an injury that’s even more serious.”
Watch Again: Sadiq Khan joins James O'Brien to take your calls | 19/01/24
The Ulez camera was pulled down at the junction of Old Priory Avenue and Court Road in Orpington, at around 6.30am on Thursday.
It came just hours after five different sets of traffic lights were cut down near a similar location.
Chief Inspector Prita Shoma said: “Two police units, who should have been available to answer 999 calls, were instead required to spend the morning managing traffic.
“The people who are carrying out this criminal damage are putting the public at risk. This morning, there has been a collision between two cars on Court Road, at the location of one of the damaged traffic lights, in which a child was injured.
“I would urge the people carrying out these crimes to stop immediately.”
Read More: Millions of pounds in Ulez fines challenged by European drivers who say rules weren't made clear
“Police were called shortly before 8.30am on Thursday, Jan 18. Two vehicles were involved in a collision. An adult and a six-year-old girl were taken to hospital to be treated for head injuries,” a spokesperson for the Met said.
“Their condition has been assessed as non life-threatening.”
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, has hit out at the 'blade runners' who have been attacking Ulez cameras, describing the explosion which destroyed a Ulez camera in London as "grotesquely irresponsible".
