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| 5 Months For Endangering Police Chopper |
09-Feb-10
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| Drunk shone laser at pilot of Herts Police helicopter on 10 occasions ... |
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A drunken DJ who shone a green laser light at a police helicopter has been sentenced to 5 months, as reported by the South Beds News Agency.
Ross Millson, 20, temporarily blinded the pilot by repeatedly pointing the laser, which can be bought for just £20, at his aircraft.
Prosecutor Peter Gleneser told St Albans Crown Court that Captain Paul Price of the Chiltern Air Support Unit took off in the helicopter from RAF Henlow in Bedfordshire on Saturday August 1st last yearwith a crew of two police officers. The helicopter had been summoned to a separate incident in the Panshanger area of Welwyn Garden City.
When they reached the scene at 2.45 in the morning a bright green laser light was waved at the aircraft. It was pointed at the helicopter in excess of ten times over twenty minutes, said the prosecutor.
Captain Price said in a statement that the laser "caused a loss of night vision and a complete distraction and loss of concentration."
The culprit was located from the camera fixed beneath the body of the helicopter. Police officers on the ground went to his location, a room at the YMCA in Welwyn Garden City, occupied by the asccused Millson, who was the only person present. He denied he had a laser, but said he had been shining a torch.
The officers arrested him for endangering an aircraft and searched his room. They found the laser hidden in a glove.
He was interviewed by the police the next day and said he regretted what he had done, realising it was "extremely stupid." Asked to say how drunk he was he replied: "Eight out of ten."
Millson, of the YMCA in Peartree Lane, Welwyn Garden City, Herts pleaded guilty to endangering the safety of an aircraft.
Defence barrister Nicholas James said that Millson had bought the laser to use when he performs as a DJ. "You wave it around from the podium in the same way as a strobe light. It can be bought for less than £20. It seems rather strange that these are available in the shops."
He said Millson suffered attention deficit hyperactivity disorder adding “This is a classic case of someone who has not thought through the consequences of his actions."
Millson had been prescribed Ritalin but was not taking the drug at the time as this prevented him from attempting to fulfil his ambition to join the army. He said his parents had split up and he had become "unmanageable" at home. As a result he had moved into the YMCA.
Mr James said "He now realises the army is not an option and he has taken steps to get back onto the medication.”
Mr Justice Cook told Millson "What you did was to jeopardise the safety of the persons in that helicopter. There was a possibility of a crash in which any number of people could have been injured. "
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