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Wales: 10 month jail sentence after laser hits plane

21-year-old Hossein Hosseiny was sentenced to 4 months in jail for endangering the safety of an aircraft by shining a laser into the cockpit of a landing airplane. In addition, he received another 6 months for supplying drugs that had been found by officers tracking down the laser pointer misuse.

Hosseiny, originally from Afghanistan, was in the UK after seeking asylum in 2002. As a result of his laser assault and subsequent convictions, he was served with a deportation notice.

In the March 2009 incident, the airplane pilot said he had a "momentary loss of concentration" due to a "dazzling green light" as the plane was landing at Cardiff (Wales) airport. The trial judge stated that "The consequences of such an action could have been catastrophic. Fortunately there was no catastrophe and the aircraft landed safety."

More details from
BBC News.