Laurence Fox denies encouraging people to damage ULEZ cameras
Laurence Fox has denied encouraging others to damage ultra low emission zone (ULEZ) cameras in London.
The actor and political activist appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday accused of posting messages on X "which were capable of encouraging the commission of an either-way offence".
In the posts, which were shared between 12 September and 4 October 2023, Fox allegedly voiced support for so-called ULEZ"Blade Runners", who repeatedly tore down cameras.
Transport for London (TfL) recorded 700 incidents of damage to cameras with a cost of more than £920,000 in this period, according to prosecutors.
The cameras, which allow TfL to monitor cars entering and exiting the ULEZ area, have repeatedly been vandalised after the zone was expanded to cover all of London at the end of August 2023.
Cars that do not meet the ultra low emission standards need to pay a £12.50 daily fee to be driven in the zone, or face a fine.
Footage shared online shows the "Blade Runners" using angle grinders and other tools to cut the cameras' wires or completely remove the devices.
Fox, 46, pleaded not guilty to a charge of intentionally encouraging or assisting the commission of an either-way offence.
If found guilty, the charge carries up to 10 years in prison.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
17 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
The devastating mystery gripping the heir of Blenheim Palace and his desperate family - and the film star battling abuse trauma: RICHARD EDEN'S DIARY
Mystery at Blenheim Palace: Heir's dog vanishes He's blessed with a glamorous wife, two wonderful young daughters – and will, one day, inherit Blenheim Palace, arguably the most sumptuous family seat in Britain, plus its 12,000-acre estate. But never assume that the Marquess of Blandford, the 12th Duke of Marlborough's son and heir, is immune to the trials and tribulations that can afflict us all. George Spencer-Churchill's young labrador, Gecko, went missing at the weekend. Perhaps even more disquietingly, she remains unaccounted for, even though there was a tracker in her distinctive pink collar. This allowed Gecko's movements to be traced to the northernmost part of Woodstock, the Oxfordshire town near Blenheim. That was shortly before 2pm on Sunday. But thereafter the trail ran cold – prompting George, 32, and his wife Camilla, 38, both pictured, to seek assistance from the police, who have issued a public appeal in a bid to find Gecko. There is another element which adds to their heartache. I understand that, at the time Gecko disappeared, she was in the care of a trusted third party. Friends and family have been putting up posters alerting locals. 'If someone has stolen her, then people will have read about her,' one tells me. George certainly won't be daunted by the challenge. In 2019, he and two of his wife's cousins rowed across the Atlantic in 35 days, securing themselves a Guinness World Record for the 'fastest time for a related team of four to row the Atlantic east to west'. I profoundly hope that the Spencer-Churchill motto – 'faithful but unfortunate' – does not hold true for Gecko. George and Camilla Blandford attending the Blenheim by Starlight charity ball in 2019 Blandford's post appealing for help finding his missing golden labrador Fry's latest field of study? Wrestling... SIR Stephen Fry has a surprising new passion. The Cambridge-educated polymath, 67, and former Marylebone Cricket Club president has become obsessed with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). 'I am now a fan of WWE and I bought a couple of tickets for Wrestlemania in Las Vegas,' reveals Fry, a friend of King Charles. 'I said that to some people and they've said, 'Doesn't he know it's fake?' and I go, 'Oh, for heaven's sake!' It isn't fake in the sense that they are banging on and doing things to their bodies which are astonishing for entertainment. They are bloody talented.' Konnichiwa! Lily takes Tokyo trip A previous trip to Japan didn't run smoothly for Lily James after she was wrongly accused of mocking the local accent. Happily, this hasn't deterred the former Downton Abbey star from embracing the country's culture. The Surrey-born actress, 36, took part in a Japanese tea ceremony in the capital, which involves preparing, serving and drinking tea to promote wellbeing, mindfulness and harmony. She wore a traditional kimono with a floral print. 'I love Tokyo,' she said next to photographs shared online. Lily James in Tokyo A rare sighting in ermine of former prime minister David Cameron, who was one of two official 'supporters' as former attorney general Victoria Prentis became a member of the Lords on Monday. One onlooker reports that Lord Cameron, who has yet to make a speech in the house this year, is now sporting an increasingly obvious bald patch. Don't expect to catch a glimpse of Michel Roux Jr at your local drive-through. 'I don't do takeaways,' the chef tells me. 'My last McDonald's was in October 1989 and my first and last KFC in 1976.' Clearly the dates stuck in the memory of Roux, 65, whose two Michelin-starred Mayfair restaurant Le Gavroche closed last year. Film helped Jaime deal with trauma Jaime Winstone has revealed that starring in a film about childhood trauma has dredged up memories of abuse she suffered in the past. The daughter of Hollywood hardman Ray Winstone, 68, appears in the psychological horror Everyone Is Going To Die. 'The film gave me the opportunity to creatively purge from a trauma,' says the actress, 40, who played the young Peggy Mitchell in TV soap EastEnders and Dame Barbara Windsor in biopic Babs. 'I was triggered from a trauma. There was a lot of stuff happening to do with a certain person that I have dealt with, with abuse.' Fans can't tell who's Hugh Griff Rhys Jones has a problem. The television personality can't go anywhere without being mistaken for Hugh Grant – who is seven years his junior. 'I've just come back from the States,' Griff, 71, says. 'Nearly every day somebody would come, because there was a camera around, and ask for an autograph, assuming I was Hugh.' Griff says of the Four Weddings And A Funeral star: 'I haven't told him directly. I've only met him once in the last five years, and he very sweetly said, 'And what do you do these days?' 'I said, 'Well, I'm still in television, Hugh, what about you?' ' Touche. The television personality can't go anywhere without being mistaken for the Four Weddings and a Funeral star – who is seven years his junior.
NBC News
44 minutes ago
- NBC News
Judge tells Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni to work out dispute over dismissal of emotional distress claims
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's legal squabble over her claims of emotional distress hit a roadblock Tuesday when a federal judge refused to let Lively dismiss them on her preferred terms, instead telling both sides to reach an agreement. The recent dispute between the 'It Ends With Us' co-stars, who have been entangled in a high-profile legal battle for months, arose after Baldoni's lawyers requested Lively's medical and mental health records to defend against her claims that he intentionally and negligently inflicted emotional distress while they were on the set of the film. Lively's initial complaint in December accused Baldoni of sexual harassment, as well as retaliation, after she raised issues about his on-set behavior — allegations Baldoni's lawyers have denied. Since then, the two stars have been embroiled in a tense legal standoff, with each accusing the other of having orchestrated a smear campaign. Rather than provide medical and mental health records requested by Baldoni's team, Lively offered to drop her emotional distress claims, according to court documents filed Monday. In response, Baldoni's lawyers Monday disputed her request to dismiss the claims 'without prejudice,' meaning she would be able to refile them later. In a court filing, Baldoni's team argued that Lively should permanently dismiss her claims if she will not provide the medical records it requested. In its own court filing hours later, Lively's team called Baldoni's motion a 'false and plainly improper public relations stunt' and asked the court to deny and strike the motion entirely. On Tuesday morning, U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman of the Southern District of New York denied Lively's request but wrote that she can file a formal motion asking for dismissal without prejudice. Otherwise, Liman wrote, Lively's and Baldoni's teams must agree among themselves whether the dismissal would be with or without prejudice. He also denied Baldoni's motion to force Lively to provide her medical records, saying the request is rendered moot now that Lively is withdrawing her emotional distress claims. Liman's ruling pressures Lively to dismiss her claims either way, as he wrote that 'if the claims are not dismissed, the Court will preclude Lively from offering any evidence of emotional distress.' In a statement, Lively's lawyers Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb wrote that Lively offered to dismiss those claims 'because they are no longer necessary, and she will continue to pursue emotional distress damages through other claims in her lawsuit, including sexual harassment and retaliation.' 'In addition, the Baldoni-Wayfarer strategy of filing retaliatory claims has exposed them to expansive damages under California law,' Lively's lawyers wrote. (Wayfarer Studios, the production company behind 'It Ends With Us,' which Baldoni co-founded, is a defendant along with Baldoni.) 'This is exactly where both parties were before the Baldoni-Wayfarer Parties rushed to file this utterly pointless motion to compel, all searching for yet another press moment,' Lively's lawyers wrote. Lawyers for Baldoni did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday. Baldoni's filing Monday argued that Lively was trying to avoid providing her medical records while preserving her claims of intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. 'Ms. Lively cannot have it both ways. If Ms. Lively wants to withdraw her frivolous IED [intentional infliction of emotional distress] Claims, the Wayfarer Parties are entitled to a dismissal with prejudice to ensure they will not be re-filed,' Baldoni's lawyers said in the filing. 'If Ms. Lively is unwilling to stipulate to the dismissal of her IED Claims with prejudice, then the Wayfarer Parties will continue to defend against them, and she must produce her medical information and documents as set forth herein.' Baldoni's lawyers were specifically seeking the names and addresses of her health care providers, their treatment notes and signed privacy forms authorizing the release of her records. They wrote in their filing Monday that because she claimed emotional injuries, Lively has placed her mental condition 'at issue' and thus 'waived any doctor-patient privilege.' Lively's lawyers countered Baldoni's motion in their response Monday, arguing that Lively voluntarily agreed to withdraw her emotional distress claims 'in good faith' to streamline the case. They added that Baldoni's team had conceded that that means their request for medical records would become moot. Lively's filing also claimed that Baldoni's lawyers did not raise any objections to her proposed revisions to the joint stipulation for dismissal during a conference call Monday. It alleged that Baldoni's team instead rushed to file a 'clearly pre-written Motion the minute that the teleconference concluded.' 'Almost immediately thereafter, tabloid media began reporting 'exclusively' on Ms. Lively's 'shock' move, claiming that she has 'sensationally' dropped her IIED claim, quoting extensively from the Motion,' Lively's filing said. Aside from asking the court to deny and strike the motion, Lively's lawyers had asked Liman on Monday to consider sanctions for the opposition's 'continued abuse of this Court's docket.' 'The Motion was filed for a single audience: the media,' Lively's filing said. 'There is nothing for this Court to compel.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
White Brits will be a minority in the UK within the next 40 years, report claims
White Brits will become a minority race in the UK population within the next 40 years, a new report has claimed. A study into birth rates and migration levels has predicted that white British people will make up only 33.7 per cent of the population by the end of the century. The research conducted by Professor Matt Goodwin of Buckingham University says the projected change will come in phases: first falling from the current level of 73 per cent to 57 per cent by 2050, then into the minority levels by 2063. Professor Goodwin's report also suggests significant changes for foreign-born citizens and second-generation immigrants, who currently make up less than 20 per cent of the population. These groups, the report says, will comprise 33.5 per cent of the UK's population in the next 25 years. It also predicts a near three-times increase in the number of Muslims living in the UK, suggesting that almost one in five people living in Britain will be followers of Islam by the end of the century. By the year 2100, the report expects 60 per cent of people living in the UK to have at least have one immigrant parent. Professor Goodwin said his research, which was based on Office for National Statistics and census data, will 'spark anxiety, concern and political opposition' among voters who wish to 'maintain the culture of the traditional majority'. He added: 'By the end of the current century, most of the people on these islands will not be able to trace their roots in this country back more than one or two generations. 'This raises enormous questions about the capacity of our country and leaders to unify people around a shared sense of identity, values, ways of life, and culture, and avoid the very real risk of us becoming what Sir Keir Starmer referred to in May as "an island of strangers".' In the report titled 'Demographic Change and the Future of the United Kingdom', Professor Goodwin also warned of the UK's ability to 'absorb and manage this scale of demographic change'. He said: 'What these projections show is that the UK is currently on course to experience enormous and historically unprecedented changes in the composition of its population.' Professor Goodwin's projections were based on non-white ethnic groups having a higher fertility rate until the end of the century. The UK- born fertility rate used was 1.39 for those born in the UK , 1.97 for foreign-born people, for Muslims it was 2.35, and for non-Muslims 1.54. The report comes just days after 1,200 migrants crossed the Channel to the UK in what was labelled 'a day of shame '. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer even faced criticism from one of his own ministers who said control of Britain's borders had been lost as a surge in dinghy crossings overwhelmed French and UK border patrol vessels. The latest Home Office figures show that 1,194 migrants arrived in 18 boats, bringing the provisional annual total so far to 14,811. This is 42 per cent higher than the 10,448 at the same point last year and 95 per cent up from the same point in 2023, 7,610. It is still lower than the highest daily total of 1,305 arrivals since data began in 2018, which was recorded on September 3, 2022. But the total of arrivals for the year, 14,811, is the highest ever recorded for the first five months of a year since data was first recorded on Channel crossings in 2018. It has also surpassed the highest total recorded for the first six months of the year, which was previously 13,489 on June 30 last year - and n 2024 the number of arrivals did not reach more than 14,000 until July 9, reaching 14,058. At Gravelines in northern France, more than half a dozen French police officers stood by and watched as migrants waded into the sea and scrambled on to an inflatable boat. French authorities said they rescued 184 people. One of Sir Keir's senior cabinet ministers admitted the scenes were 'pretty shocking' as he said the UK had 'lost control of its borders over the last five years'. Defence Secretary John Healey told Sky News that the latest crossings revealed a 'really big problem' - but insisted there was pressure being put on France for better co-operation and crackdowns ahead. Britain had agreed a deal in 2023 to pay France £480million over three years to stop the crossings, including £175million in the current financial year – more than £480,000 per day. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp branded the latest Channel scenes 'a disgrace but sadly entirely expected' and 'a day of shame for the Labour Government'. He added: 'It's a shameful failure by the French to discharge their duties to stop illegal migration. The French are failing to stop these crossings by illegal immigrants. 'Over a thousand illegal immigrants in a single day, boats flooding the Channel, Border Force stretched beyond breaking point, and even fishing vessels drafted in because our maritime rescue services are overwhelmed.' And Richard Tice MP, deputy leader of Reform UK, said: 'It looks like we pay hundreds of millions to give French police officers photography lessons because they are certainly not providing any security. Frankly, the Government should be suing the French for our money back.' At least 18 migrant boats were seen leaving the French coast on Sunday, June 1, carrying more than 1,000 people - exceeding the previous daily record for 2025 of 825, set earlier last month. Mr Healey added: 'Pretty shocking, those scenes [on Sunday]. The truth is, Britain's lost control of its borders over the last five years. 'The last government last year left an asylum system in chaos and record levels of immigration. 'But I think that [Sunday] tells us a really big problem which is that you've got French police unable to intervene to intervene and intercept the boats when they are in shallow water. 'We saw the smugglers launching elsewhere and coming round like a taxi to pick them up.' Mr Healey insisted there was 'new co-operation' with the French suggesting their officials would intervene in the water. When asked whether he was 'hacked off' with France for not doing so now, Mr Healey said: 'They are not doing it, but we've got the agreement that they will change the way they work. 'Our concentration now is to push them to get that into operation so they can intercept these smugglers and stop these people in the boats, not just on the shore.'
