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UK: North London teen gets 6 month jail sentence

19-year-old Islam Ali was handed a six month jail sentence after pleading guilty to endangering the safety of an aircraft. On March 6 2011 the teen was using a green laser pen outdoors and “wanted to see how far it would go.” He aimed at a police helicopter pilot who was flying an armed response team to a shooting incident. One press account said the pilot was temporarily blinded while another said that at 1,500 feet “the strength of the beam was not sufficient to affect [the pilot’s] vision.”

According to the judge, “this was an extremely serious offence which could have ended in several fatalities” to those on board and on the ground.

From the Daily Express and Willesden & Brent Times