Man makes 9 citizen arrests on Uber drivers; court not amused He also appears in anti-Uber Game of Thrones parody video

Troubling UBER incidents around the world Troubling UBER incidents around the world Photo: Uber Photo: Uber Image 1 of / 44 Caption Close Man makes 9 citizen arrests on Uber drivers; court not amused 1 / 44 Back to Gallery

An Australian high court has ordered a man to stop performing citizens arrests on Uber drivers.

Russell Howarth, who has been protesting the ride-share giant for several years, "arrested" nine drivers over a 10-month period in New South Wales. He orchestrated five other citizen arrests and stalked an Uber driver through Sydney, a court decision stated on Monday.

According to the New South Wales Supreme Court, Howarth would book an Uber ride, after which he would inform the driver that he or she was breaking the law. He would then call the police and wait for officers show up.

Court documents show Howarth targeted UberX because he claimed it "operated contrary to the laws and regulations of this State, in contrast to the UberBLACK and UberTAXI services and other licensed and accredited private hire vehicles."

Buzzfeed reported that Howarth claimed on his now defunct website arrestinguber.com that he was a former London Metropolitan police officer and a counterterrorism agent at MI6.

A Court Has Ordered A Man To Stop Performing Citizen's Arrests Of Uber Drivers https://t.co/v7O5hZAhrd pic.twitter.com/3dKsCxg2Qg — BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) April 3, 2017

Howarth sent multiple tweets from three separate accounts (now all suspended) during the 10-month period in 2014-15, according to Justice Michael Slattery.

1 November 2014: "Whilst watching the Apprentice I have had a brainwave to seriously hurt Uber – give me few days [sic]...absolute KILLER!"

10 November 2014: "Ah dear Uber – I'm in another ILLEGAL UberX vehicle. Another arrest is imminent – he too has been LIED to! Tut tut Uber & I will not stop!"

25 November 2014: "Uber are not happy about this all...not happy one little bit...& know this @uber – I am merely warming up...time to "weaponise'"

Howarth also appears in an anti-Uber "Game of Thrones" parody video in which he defeats the masters and liberate the slaves from Uber's yoke.

"Relevantly, in the course of the footage, an image of Mr Howarth's face is also superimposed upon the male 'champion' in the footage, who helps to defeat the masters and liberate the masses of slaves from the throes of UberX, so that they may join the likes of On Tap and other UberX competitors," the decision read.

The court determined Howarth's primary motive for the citizen's arrests was hurting Uber, and therefore the arrests were unlawful.

Justices enjoined Howarth from arresting, attempting to arrest, or threatening to arrest people using Uber, driving for Uber or working for Uber. The only exception would be if the arrest were in relation to a serious offense.