Millennium3

Bombs sent 'in protest at state'

Miles Cooper is a former primary school caretaker [Pic: INS]
A primary school caretaker sent a series of letter bombs to protest against "overbearing" state control over individuals, he has told a court.
Miles Cooper, 27, from Cambridge, said he had been angry at authorities and "very concerned about the direction my country was heading in".

Mr Cooper denies 12 charges related to seven letter bombs sent in England and Wales in January and February.

The Oxford Crown Court jury has retired to consider its verdict.

Mr Cooper allegedly sent seven letter bombs, five of which exploded, injuring eight people.

The locations were Abingdon in Oxfordshire; Culham, near Abingdon; Birmingham; Folkestone, in Kent; Victoria in central London; Wokingham in Berkshire; and the DVLA offices in Swansea.

He does not contest that he sent the letters to three forensic science laboratories, a computer company, an accountancy firm, the DVLA and a residential address, but denies intending to cause injury.

Mr Cooper told the jury his anger at the country's authorities had intensified when his father Clive was unable to have DNA samples removed from the police database, even though he had been cleared in 2003 of assault.

"I felt my father had been used and I felt unable to do anything about it," he said.

Mr Cooper added that prior to this, he had campaigned about government's proposals to introduce ID cards, but that his approach changed after the episode with his father.

Mr Cooper said he had been further angered by the treatment of anti-nuclear protesters, and also by an incident involving Walter Wolfgang, then 82, who was thrown out of the 2005 Labour Party conference for shouting "nonsense" at then foreign secretary Jack Straw as he delivered a speech.

He told the court his decision to abandon peaceful methods of protest was "not an easy step to make".

But he said he made the transition "as it became more and more obvious that the government was not going to listen to peaceful protesters and, in fact, they were starting to use anti-terror legislation against them".

'Surveillance society'

He said the letters he sent containing explosive devices were intended to cause fear rather than harm.

They were sent, he added, to organisations he believed were connected to government control, surveillance and monitoring.

"I was hoping to achieve a bomb scare, to shut down a building, but cause no real harm to any individual," he said.

"The overall goal was to shut down certain departments in certain buildings and ultimately to highlight my cause.

"I am genuinely ashamed of what I've done."

Mr Cooper also told the court he had concerns over the amount of power given to the government.

"If you give a small group of people [the government] too much power, they will eventually end up abusing it.

"Based on what I learned at school and learned from history books, an authoritarian state eventually develops, and free speech is stifled.

"Throughout history it has happened over and over again in many other countries."

Referring to the issue of Britain being a "surveillance society", he said: "We are one of the most watched societies on the planet."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7016053.stm

kernow

"We are one of the most watched societies on the planet."

As long as people like Miles Cooper are on the loose it will continue to be!

Tara

I have some sympathy for this guy Miles Cooper. It's a shame that eight people suffered injuries but maybe they should have chosen more worthwhile jobs, they cared little about my liberties so I care little for theirs. Miles Cooper should have planned things a little better ensuring no one got hurt by blowing up a couple of empty buildings instead but I'm sure others will learn from his experiences and do it better next time.

Westcountryman

You know that for a fact do you? I'm also interested to hear how you think, for example, working for the DVLA means you 'care little about liberties'.

__________________
Manus haec inimica tyrannis ense petit placidam sub libertate quietam - "This hand of mine, which is hostile to tyrants, seeks by the sword quiet peace under liberty."

Tara

Well they do sell off (or give away) peoples personal details, don't they?

tito

The chap that opens the letters doesn't.

__________________
For life, Liberty and Prosperity
http://lpuk.org/

Little Englander (sour)

Now you have the advantage of inside information, how come every Tom Dick and Harry "Knows" these things. Do you work at the DVLA.
I think he was a bloke fed up to the back teeth with all the interference from the "nanny state" and snapped.
I wish I had the guts to do it.

Gramboy2

Just think how much attention a bunch of Coopers linked with an organised mind could attract.

Unfortunately apart from the attention it would only give the Gov't the excuse for more snooping.

g hall

If you park in a supermarket with a time restriction they can give your index number to the DVLA and the DVLA will give the name of the registered keeper of the vehicle to the supermarket or its agent

__________________
"That government is best which governs least."
"This is a sharp Medicine, but it is a Physician for all diseases and miseries".
"To be "matter of fact" about the world is to blunder into fantasy --and dull fantasy at that, as the real world is strange and wonderful."

Millennium3

Letter-bombing caretaker jailed

Miles Cooper was found guilty at Oxford Crown Court
A primary school caretaker found guilty of carrying out a letter bomb campaign in which eight people were injured has been given an indeterminate sentence.
Miles Cooper, 27, from Cambridge, sent seven letter bombs to addresses in England and Wales earlier this year, five of which exploded.

Judge Julian Hall said Cooper must serve four years and 149 days before being eligible for parole.

He told Cooper: "You are a terrorist, there can be no mistake."

Cooper did not contest that he sent the letters but denied intending to cause injury.

He told Oxford Crown Court that he had been "concerned about the direction my country was heading in".

He said that his aim was "ultimately to highlight my cause" and denied charges related to the seven letter bombs sent in January and February.

The targets were three forensic science laboratories, a computer company, an accountancy firm, the DVLA and a residential address.[more]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7017943.stm