Image courtesy of George McNaughton (dailyrecord.co.uk)
Remember back when some people destroyed three 5G transmitter towers because they thought it was linked to COVID-19? It's happening again but this time around, a man was sent to jail for committing something dangerous that could harm the public - setting off a fire on a phone cell tower.
According to the case, it happened at Coopers Lane in Kirkby which belonged to Vodafone and three people were seen escaping from the incident. Two people couldn't be found, except for one which is the man named Michael Whitty. It was reported that Whitty set the equipment box on fire just because he read some conspiracy theories of 5G relating to COVID-19 #facepalm.
To make things matter worst, Whitty had previously committed arson attacks before and has a total of 29 convictions previously. This incident was just one of 13 attacks on multiple cell towers, and police found similar firelighters at the scene which matches Whitty's home. The burnt cell tower couldn't be used for 11 days and the cost of damage was between £10,000 to £15,000 (~RM54k to ~RM81k).
The arsonist, Michael Whitty
On the bright side, Whitty did admit that he was feeling guilty about it. Besides being sent to jail, he is also on court-orders to do charity work which he was willing to do. But in all seriousness though, we still can't believe there are still some people out there who believed such silly conspiracy theory.
As always, we as the netizens of the Internet have to play our role in not sending false information to our friends and family. Double-check the facts, don't spread rumours, stay informed, and stay tuned for more trending tech news at TechNave.com.
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