A comprehensive resource for safe and responsible laser use

UK: 6 months in jail for "dangerous idiot" laser pen offender

A 23-year-old Newcastle area man was sentenced on July 26 2011 to 6 months in jail for repeatedly aiming a laser pen at a Northumbria Police helicopter around 1 am on June 6. Richard Anthony Oliver was outside his house in South Shields, and admitted the offence. He had purchased the laser pen while on holiday in Turkey, according to his lawyer, and “he accepts that it was a stupid, silly thing to do.”


6 months for aiming a laser pen at a police helicopter

The judge called Oliver a “dangerous idiot” for illuminating the helicopter “for a considerable amount of time.”

In addition to the 6-month laser pen sentence, Oliver received another 6 months in jail on an unrelated theft charge.

From the Shields Gazette, Chronicle Live and BBC News. See also the Shields Gazette June 21 2011 story about Oliver’s guilty plea, and LaserPointerSafety.com’s original news item about the June 6 incident.