The first UK prosecution for vandalising mobile masts, following the 5G/coronavirus hysteria, has resulted in a lengthy prison sentence.

Scott Bicheno

June 8, 2020

2 Min Read
5G arsonist gets put away for three years
5g Antenna Coronavirus Covid-19 3D image

The first UK prosecution for vandalising mobile masts, following the 5G/coronavirus hysteria, has resulted in a lengthy prison sentence.

A 47-year-old man named Michael Whitty pleased guilty to starting a fire inside the equipment box of a Vodafone tower in Kikby, near Liverpool, on 5 April, according to the Liverpool Echo. He had apparently left some gloves at the scene, which had his DNA on them, so this was far from the perfect crime. Noting there was intent to cause very serious damage to property, the judge gave Whitty three years in prison for his troubles.

While, of course, we condemn any vandalism of telecoms gear, three years feels like the harsher end of the scale. The fact that Whitty is a serial offender was presumably a consideration, even though he had only recently branched out into mobile mast sabotage. His confiscated phone revealed a fair bit of research into 5G, from which he sadly came to all the wrong conclusions.

Whitty apparently had a couple of accomplices, who were more careful not to leave damning evidence and presumably weren’t identified by the guilty man, which may also have added time to his sentence. Vodafone revealed that the mast was out of action for 11 days following the arson attempt.

The spate of telecoms mast attacks seems to have been short-lived. At strange times like these, people tend to cling to any explanation for what’s going on, however implausible. The coincidence of a new generation of mobile technology with a global pandemic led some people to put two and two together to get five. Anyone still tempted to take out their frustrations on telecoms kit may well be given pause for thought by the heavy sentence served on Whitty.

Telecoms.com Poll:

Is the industry doing enough to combat the 5G conspiracy theories?

  • No, the industry is ignoring the problem (42%, 52 Votes)

  • No, information is not accessible (21%, 26 Votes)

  • The stories should not be validated by addressing them (19%, 23 Votes)

  • Yes, there is only so much which can be done (18%, 22 Votes)

Total Voters: 123

About the Author(s)

Scott Bicheno

As the Editorial Director of Telecoms.com, Scott oversees all editorial activity on the site and also manages the Telecoms.com Intelligence arm, which focuses on analysis and bespoke content.
Scott has been covering the mobile phone and broader technology industries for over ten years. Prior to Telecoms.com Scott was the primary smartphone specialist at industry analyst Strategy Analytics’. Before that Scott was a technology journalist, covering the PC and telecoms sectors from a business perspective.
Follow him @scottbicheno

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