Man faces prison after 5G phone mast arson attack
18 May 2020, 13:08
A man has been warned he faces prison after he admitted an arson attack on a telephone mast in Liverpool.
Police were called to a mast in Coopers Lane on Sunday, April 5 after reports the Vodafone-owned mast was on fire.
It comes amid a number of attacks on phone masts across the country believed to be linked to false claims that the 5G network is spreading coronavirus.
Experts have commented that coronavirus has spread widely in the world in countries where there is no 5G network.
Michael Whitty, 47, pleaded guilty to arson over the telecommunications mast blaze in Kirkby, Merseyside, at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday.
Nobody was injured, but damage was caused to the structure.
Michael Gove calls 5G coronavirus conspiracy theories ‘dangerous nonsense’
Whitty, of Perimeter Road, Kirkby, appeared in court via videolink from HMP Altcourse.
Andrew Alty, defending, asked for a pre-sentence report to be prepared to provide further details of Whitty's reasons for committing the offence.
He said: "There is more of an explanation behind this that he would like to give."
The court heard material from the defendant's mobile phone was being assessed by the prosecution.
Judge Andrew Menary QC adjourned the case until June 8.
He told Whitty: "You must recognise that it is inevitable there will be a custodial sentence in this case."
