ANTI-CCTV MAN TO LEAVE 'BIG BROTHER BRITAIN'

Friday, January 04, 2008

Herald Express | Jan. 4, 2008

An outspoken campaigner from Dawlish is quitting Britain claiming 'spy cameras' are driving him out of the country.

Keith Sharp, 69, is moving thousands of miles away to Argentina saying he is tired of being spied on.The divorced author and retired journalist of Barton Crescent is planning a more sedate - and private - life in Mendoza which nestles at the foot of the Andes.

Before leaving he said: "I hope people will carry on the fight against Big Brother Britain.

"I have wanted to get away from these wretched spy cameras for a while. I do not like being spied upon."

Mr Sharp has waged a long and often bitter war against the proliferation of CCTV.

On occasions his passionate cause has resulted in clashes with local councillors and police.

Last March he found himself on the wrong side of the law when he published and distributed a controversial anti-CCTV poster containing references to the Nazis.

He was protesting about the number of cameras in Dawlish and elsewhere, and published 4,000 leaflets with a swastika and a Nazi policeman with binoculars.

He was served with an £80 penalty notice by police for allegedly causing harassment, alarm and distress in the community but refused to pay, saying he wanted it dealt with by the courts.

In August the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the case saying it was not in the public interest, adding that the leaflet was 'strong and saucy'.

Mr Sharp has become disillusioned with Britain, a place he believes is becoming a police state.