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Police link bombs to road, animal activists

Police investigating a letter bomb campaign have been focusing on the role of animal rights extremism in the first wave of attacks, after it emerged that two of the packages carried the names of activists.

Detectives who examined one package found a reference to jailed arsonist Barry Horne, who became a martyr for the animal rights movement after his death on hunger strike in prison in 2001.

Thames Valley police confirmed on Friday that a reference to another animal rights activist, who is still alive, was found on another package but are not releasing the name.

Three letter bombs were sent to forensic science laboratories in middle of last month, followed by three to companies involved in enforcing traffic rules. Another bomb exploded at the home of a security consultant in Folkestone, Kent, on Feb. 3.

Detectives were liaising with Cambridgeshire police over a parcel bomb attack on Cambridge Labour party offices in August.

An angry motorist still appears the most plausible candidate for the latest attacks, which hit Capita, the firm that collects congestion charge fees; the accountancy firm Vantis, which receives mail on behalf of Speed Check Services, a company that specializes in traffic regulating technology, including numberplate recognition; and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in Swansea.

The packages arrived on three successive days last week. At least nine people were injured.

The attacks could reflect a groundswell of frustration at traffic technology. Speed cameras, in particular, are alleged to be tools for profiteering rather than making roads safer. Over the past two years, vigilante motorists have caused more than ?10 million in damage to speed cameras.

Avon and Somerset is a hotspot for vandalism, with 26 out of 68 cameras attacked. There have been at least 18 attacks on cameras on Merseyside over the past two years, most commonly by smashing the lens with a hammer.

Cameras have also been set on fire, sprayed with paint and attacked with angle grinders in assaults egged on by drivers' Web sites, a "petrolheads" counter-culture in which speed cameras are "scameras."

The belief that motorists are under threat finds a legitimate voice in attempts to lobby the government over road pricing.

An electronic petition against road pricing on the 10 Downing Street Web site has received more than 750,000 signatures.

But there is also a shadowy hinterland of direct action campaigners.

One of these guerrilla activists, "Captain Gatso," who claims responsibility for attacks on speed cameras, said the letter bombs were the result of disillusion with democracy.

"How many people marched on Downing Street, saying no to the Iraq war? What did they do? They didn't listen," the activist said.

He denied knowledge of the letter bomber but added: "I understand the frustration."

The world of the militant petrolhead is distinctly masculine, middle-aged, white collar, and small-c conservative. Captain Gatso described himself as "from Margaret Thatcher's back garden. I'm a 40-something north London man, with a responsible job. I hate this government. I hate Ken Livingstone," he said.

Campaigners such as Paul Smith, founder of Safe Speed, have been attacking a government approach which he claimed prioritizes speed limits over skilled driving.

A man aged 48 who tried to claim responsibility for one of the letter bombs on a radio phone-in was detained under the UK's Mental Health Act, police said yesterday.
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