Police lives at risk after laser pen dazzles pilot

A police helicopter crew was put at risk after being dazzled by beams from a laser pen while it was dealing with two incidents in Telford. Crews were targeted by people shining hand-held lasers.

Police said during both incidents on Saturday, the aircraft was hit by laser beams.

The two incidents were reported through the West Mercia helicopter team's twitter feed @AirOneHeli in the early hours of Saturday.

The first incident saw the helicopter targeted by lasers after being called out to help investigate a break-in at Asda in Telford town centre.

And the second incident saw lasers again pointed at the helicopter crew while they were helping officers on the ground who were attempting to stop a car involved in an incident.

The Twitter feed also had a warning for anyone thinking of using laser pens against the police as the beam can temporarily dazzle the pilot and distract officers from their job.

Concern that lasers can cause long-term eye damage has been questioned by experts.

But they have been blamed for some accidents where drivers have been dazzled and several professional footballers have complained that rival fans use them to put players off their game.

Misuse of a laser pen can lead to a jail term of up to five years.