11:39am Monday 22nd December 2008
By Jon Reeve
A HAMPSHIRE man who blinded a police plane pilot as he attempted to take off has today been spared an immediate prison term.
David Williams shone a laser pen into the cockpit of the force's spotter plane as it left Daedalus airfield in Lee-on-the-Solent.
The pilot was temporarily left unable to see by the bright beam aimed at his eyes, and had to climb rapidly after leaving the ground, at around 11pm on June 5.
Officers in the aircraft were able to use its infra-red cameras to find the source of the laser, and alerted colleagues on the ground.
Williams, 20, of Cuckoo Lane, Stubbington, was arrested in a nearby park, and later charged with the offence of endangering an aircraft, under the provisions of the Air Navigation Order 2005.
He is the first person in Hampshire ever to face such a charge.
Today, Judge Richard Price told Williams, who later admitted the offence, his actions could have killed someone.
In mitigation Williams said he had only been messing around with friends and simply hadn't appreciated the dangers of what he was doing.
Sentencing him at Portsmouth Crown Court to six months in prison, suspended for a year, Judge Price said: "The consequences could have been potentially catastrophic."
However, he decided not to immediately jail Williams because he hadn't realised the damage he could have done.
"The courts of this country are not in the habit and I hope never will be in the habit of sending young men to prison for doing something stupid but devoid of malice or any intention to do harm," said Judge Price.
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