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UK: 4 months jail for "endangering aircraft"

A 21-year-old man from Greater Manchester who temporarily blinded a police helicopter pilot with a laser pen has been jailed for four months. Dean Bottomley, of Stockport, pleaded guilty to endangering an aircraft during an earlier hearing at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.

Pilot Captain Mark Westwood told the court: "The overall effect was temporary blindness. I lost outside visual reference and could not see the instrumentation displayed in the aircraft.”

After the first incident he had to fly blind, taking emergency evasive action to position the helicopter out of the beam. He added: "It was a very dangerous manoeuvre, but I had to do it to get myself out of that dazzle."
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