A man who drove a restored army tank on a rampage against cellphone towers in Australia’s biggest city believed radio waves had ”harmed his head”, the tank’s owner said on Sunday.
The 1967 British tank was spotted by a police patrol as it attacked an electricity sub-station in Sydney early on Saturday and was pursued as it went on to flatten seven cellphone towers.
Police said they had no option but to tail the tank in a low-speed pursuit through the western suburbs of the country’s biggest city as it left a trail of destruction for 90 minutes, only arresting the driver when it stalled.
Owner Greg Morris said he was devastated to learn that a former employee, John Robert Patterson (45) had allegedly stolen the tank and used it to attack the phone towers.
Morris told the Australian Associated Press that Patterson had previously done telecommunications work for the army and believed cellphone waves had ”harmed his head”. He described Patterson as a ”great guy” who had helped restore the tank last year.
”He finished up just before Christmas, but I still keep in contact with him,” Morris said. ”The problem he had wasn’t with me. It’s just that was what he needed to do.”
Morris said the tank, which had been popular at weddings, student dances and monster-truck shows, had been ”trashed” but that he would restore it again.
The Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association said the electromagnetic radiation emitted from cellphone towers do not pose a health risk.
”The emissions from towers are incredibly low, well below the Australian standard,” association chief executive Chris Althaus said. ”The emissions are much, much lower than many standard household items of equipment like a microwave oven or an AM radio.”
Althaus said the World Health Organisation and ”countless international bodies” have all concluded there is no link between cellphone towers and ”adverse health outcomes”.
Patterson is due in court on Monday on several charges, including predatory driving. — Sapa-AFP