A man has been jailed for endangering three passenger planes and a police helicopter with a laser pen he was able to buy for just £1.
Liam Chadwick, 28, pleaded guilty at Cardiff Crown Court to four counts of recklessly acting in a manner likely to endanger aircraft – but claimed he had not known he was breaking the law.
Two planes flying out Bristol Airport on the night of August 1 had to have their flight paths changed after a Ryanair pilot reported a green laser beam being shone from about half a mile inland from the Welsh coast, said prosecutor Tracey Lloyd-Nesling.
“The Ryanair flight was 10 miles out of Bristol when it reported the laser.
“Six minutes later a second flight turned in an easterly direction to avoid it and one minute after that a Thomson plane was also turned.
“All said they saw the same thing coming from the east of Cardiff.”
Pinpointed beam to Chadwick's flat
The police helicopter, which was already in the air, was sent to the area to find the source.
Ms Lloyd-Nesling told the court: “Its pilot was very well aware of the dangers having previously been subjected to an attack when a laser hit him in the eye.
“He had to see an optician to find out if he was fit to fly again.”
Using his flying skills that night the police pilot was able to position the helicopter in such a way that its frame protected his eyes while he pinpointed the beam to a top-floor flat from where it was now being targeted towards him.
Police on the ground were directed to the property and could see Chadwick moving around inside.
“They knocked, he took three minutes to answer the door, and officers found him and his girlfriend inside.
“He denied knowing anything about it but they found parts of a laser pen which had been taken apart,” the prosecutor said.
'Trying it out'
When the police put it back together with its batteries inserted it was found to be fully functioning and showing a green light as described by the pilots.
Although he had at first denied any knowledge of it Chadwick told police as they went to arrest his girlfriend as well as him: “I did it”.
At the police station he said he had just been “trying it out”.
'Deeply apologetic'
His barrister Ruth Smith said: “He accepts he was reckless in playing with it and moving it around but he didn’t see the aircraft high in the night sky.
“It was a laser pen he had bought for £1 and he didn’t realise or appreciate the consequences of what he was doing.
“He is deeply apologetic and says he wants to write a letter of apology to each of the pilots.
“He would never have played with a laser in the way he did if he had known it was a criminal act.”
'Protracted behaviour'
She described Chadwick, who has a history of depression, as “quite a vulnerable young man” who was anxious not to lose his liberty not only for himself but because his father is ill.
He had also been recently assaulted in a “random attack” by four men and walked into the dock on Thursday on crutches.
Ms Smith said he had “saved up” £500 which he had brought to court with him to offer as part of a financial penalty if he could be spared prison.
But Judge Rhys Rowlands told him: “You have pleaded guilty to endangering the safety of four aircraft – three civilian airlines and a police helicopter sent to investigate a laser being shone into the skies about east Cardiff.
“A Ryanair flight reported it and two other planes had to have their flight paths changed.
Read more: Locked up - the killers, paedophiles and other criminals sent to prison in Wales in September
“The laser was first seen at 10.50pm and the police helicopter was targeted at 11.11pm.
“It was protracted behaviour, over a period of 20 minutes, and officers were directed to your home found you dismantling the pen.
“You say you are sorry, have entered an early guilty plea to reckless endangerment, and sadly your father is unwell.
'You were warned'
“But such offences are becoming all too prevalent and it must be made absolutely plain to those who may buy these pens and behave in this way that custodial sentences are inevitable in order to deter others.
“In my view it is far too serious to be dealt with in any other way.
“The consequences to those travelling on those aircraft and to others on the ground could have been catastrophic.”
For full story see - http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/shining-1-laser-pen-eyes-10312227
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