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Man jailed for speed camera blast

A man who blew up a speed camera because he feared he would lose his licence after he was snapped speeding has been jailed for four months.

Craig Moore, 28, of Grampian Way in Thorne, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, admitted damaging property last month.

He used the chemical thermite, which he obtained from his welding job, to destroy the camera, which caught him driving in Hyde, Greater Manchester.

Moore was sentenced at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.

The explosion caused £11,700 damage to the camera, which had flashed him exceeding the speed limit on Mottram Road on 14 August last year.

Moore, who was a railway worker for Vital Rail, was in a work vehicle with a colleague when he was flashed.

He claimed he was afraid he would lose his job and be unable to support his family if he was caught speeding. He already had 10 points on his licence and thought he would receive a driving ban if more were added.

Late that night he drove 40 miles back to the camera with a quantity of the chemically volatile substance Thermite, which is used by railway workers to weld tracks.

The substance uses a powdered mixture of aluminium and iron oxide which, when ignited, gives out enormous heat.

At 2345 BST later that night, the Watchman camera, which works in a different way from a traditional yellow GATSO speed camera, exploded.

Camera recording

A recording from the hard-drive of the camera showed the Ford Transit van approaching the camera.

As the vehicle was driven off, sparks were seen coming from the camera box and then it exploded.

Police checked the tracker device fitted to the van, which showed it had arrived in Hyde, stopped on Mottram Road and then returned to the Doncaster area, where it was parked outside Moore's home address.

Pc Mark Akers, of Tameside Police, said: "Instead of just accepting that he had been caught travelling above the speed limit, Moore decided to blow the camera apart.

"He obviously thought that by destroying the main camera he was destroying all the evidence. But a combination of hard work and the latest technology led to his conviction."

Andrew Bailey, defending, said Moore knew adding extra speeding points to the 10 points he already had on his driving licence would mean he would lose it, and with it his livelihood.

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