UK Man Sentenced to 4 Months

Here it is in the Sun. I guess the UK is going to be next for the laser ban if this stuff keeps up:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/justice/article1344224.ece

Hopefully this is going to start setting an example to people. You shine at police, you go to prison.

“significant deficits in his thinking”

Uhm....ya think ?

Jeez.. 4 months, for UK standards thats quite a long time.

It's a stupid thing to do though, especially with a helicopter where you can actually hit the pilot in the face due to the windows often extending downwards - something rather unlikely with an airplane.

Two months before the incident he had taken a vehicle and was arrested after a police pursuit - with the help of the same police helicopter.


But this was “not a revenge” attack his lawyer said.

Bottomley also has previous convictions for theft and vehicle taking.

Click to expand...

Gee, you wonder if those previous convictions might have to do with anything. :

That's the problem isn't it. He was sentenced to four months for shining a laser at a helicopter but has an extensive criminal record which cannot be used against him in court because this incident is not part of a pattern of similar incidents. But, if he was indeed sentenced due to his past criminal activity, it will be overlooked by the next judge sentencing someone for a similar crime. Precedence is precedence.

Yeah. I'm guessing a person with no criminal record at all would have been convicted as well. But the actual penalty would probably be lower.

Serves the twat right, it will no doubt get to the stage where if you shine a laser into the sky and there is a helicopter somewhere in the vicinity you will get a knock at the door and be accused of trying to blind the pilot, whether you were anywhere near it or not.

The UK government is renowned for its "kneejerk" reaction to almost anything these days, it won't be long before they try to criminalise me.... yet again

Regards rog8811

grand theft auto and he is on the streets, shine a laser at a cop, go to jail...

i first read about this last month and was wondering what the courts verdict was.
4 months isnt that bad for the crime he commited. he should be grateful its only 4 months and not 5 years.

Hmmm,

this is truely sad for all laser enthusiast, pretty soon there will be an all EU ban on these lasers...Italy already has an import ban on all lasers (from china i believe, saw it on the EU site, didnt go into specifics)...

I mean I can understand that some people do not like the police, I am on their side when it comes to a small part of the police force (complete power-trippin idiots) while I have alot of respect for the rest especially in my counrty where they are severely underpaid, but that in now way gives them the right to endanger the policemans or and innocent bystandards life (a chopper coming down in a residential area is BAD news)...

I myself had a scheme that I was going to build an IR laser powerful enough to pop (cop) tires (parked cars of course), and watch them stand there like a bunch of idiots...but decided against it (can you say lasers above 1mw legal only for industrial purposes)..still would make a pretty funny youtube video though ehehe

brtaman

In my town, you do NOT mess with the police. They can either make or break you, so you need to watch what you say and do. I know that if I was shining a laser in the sky and the helicopter saw the beam a mile away he would have police at my door in minutes. The good thing is the helicopters are loud, so you can hear if there is one in a few miles radius. If there is (and they fly at all hours) then I won't even dare shine a laser on a wall a few feet away, never mind at it.

One of the major problems with lasers being so easily acquired in the hands of the public is relativity. It is a primitive action to shine a laser at an aircraft, vehicle, person, window, etc. because they don't think about the other side. It's different if you point a laser at a fly in your house, (who really thinks about the fly, who really cares that their 20 eyes are getting blinded...) but when shining at a helicopter? Most incidents like this I believe are caused from one-way-thinking, "To see the beam hit the side of the machine, will it reach?" They aren't thinking about the other side "WTF? I can't see! Oh whoever’s doing that doesn’t know who their messing with!!!"

Messing with people with lasers is NEVER a good idea. NOTHING good will EVER come from it. Its equal to cussing someone out, punching someone in the face, egging someone’s house...etc. Who in the right mind would go up to a cop and throw an egg at their face? Or cruiser, or helicopter (if it was close enough). Sure, there's always the chance you won't get caught, but what good did it bring? NONE.

The police in my town know me, know where I live, and a few other things as well. I’m fighting them in court right now about an insane case where the cop stepped way over the legal boundaries of our constitution. That being said, they tend to harass us from time to time, helicopter included. They have made certain aspects of my life hell. They fly over my house in circles so low it sounds like my house is going to blow away, for several minutes almost daily (however improved allot recently) all through out the night, putting panic and discomfort in my home. Amongst many other things, you can imagine my frustrations, my temptations of “blasting” (should be the word and not “zapping”) the helicopter out of the sky? I would love to show them who they are messing with by blasting them with 250mW of green, but that’s a fight NOT worth picking. I Know no good would ever come of it and the police are not to be messed with. This kid who BLASTED (I like that word better) the police helicopter knew what he was doing, IMO. This doesn’t seem like the typical “attack”. I think 4 months seems about perfect considering his record, age, and crime. IMO, less would be too lenient, more would be cruel. Luckily in this case, the media published a possibility of the kid having vindictive motives (unfortunately cannot be proven one way or the other), so it isn’t necessarly directed toward the common hobbyist. However, it does no good for the legal aspect of the public’s freedom to own them.

oK, Ill stop my rant.

If someone in the UK wrecks it for me and the other hobbyists here I might just need to cut his head of with my RPL when I get it .

Diachi

Little Chav Twat, He deserved everything he got

Jase

He should have had more, what I dont understand is that the laser he used must have been pretty damn powerful, I've caught reflections from my Romisen L-A030 from close range and my sights been fine except a tiny dot in my vision that did not affect my ability to read or anything, this guy shines a laser at a plane 800-1400Ft away and is 'Blinded' and unable to see the craft controls ! I find this actually hard to believe, not saying that what the guy did was right, it wasnt and he did deserve what he got, I just dont understand how an Ebayser that cost £30 could do that much damage from that range.

Diachi

Have you ever had someone point a 30mW laser at you from a distance? Last year while up at the cottage, my wife and I set up a tripod with a 5mW leadlight. About 1000 meters out we went with the boat to a small normally visible island. I called one of our guests who remained with the laser, there after he turned it on. At 5mW, I would not put my eyes in its path! Even though it was an FDA eye-friendly laser, I was shocked of how much more brighter it is on the receving end. Even with a low power red, you can see the bright flash at a good distance. 30mW of of green would surely be a different story.