Man weeps as he is jailed for shining laser pen at police helicopter

Philip Houghton bought the gadget as a pet toy and says he was only trying to see how far the beam would reach

A man wept in the dock as he was jailed for five months for shining a laser pen at a police helicopter.
Care officer Philip Houghton, 25, pointed the beam from the £9 device as the helicopter hovered in the sky above his hometown.


A court heard he bought the pen online from China to entertain his dog but shone it into the sky after becoming bored of waiting for a takeaway.
He directed it at the helicopter as police hunted a suspect after shooting in Hull, East Yorks.
Houghton admitted endangering an aircraft or person in an aircraft but claimed he was only trying to see how far the laser would reach.
District Judge Frederick Rutherford told him: "It is only a matter of time before a tragedy is caused by this type of behaviour.
"You cannot expect by the fact you deliberately targeted the helicopter with your laser that you did not endanger it and by so doing you endangered the pilot.

To do this as a man of your age and your responsibility is beyond belief."
The judge said the seriousness of the offence merited a prison sentence and also ordered him to pay a victim surcharge of £80.
Amelia Woolen, mitigating, told Hull magistrates court: "He is an extremely hard-working individual.
"He works as a care officer with people with severe learning difficulties and in a taxi office."
Humberside Police said: "People should never shine laser pens at planes or helicopters as it compromises public safety.
"The mindless action can endanger the safety of an aircraft, those in it and the wider public.
"Those prosecuted face a prison sentence, as Phillip Houghton has discovered."

The case comes days after a Virgin Atlantic flight from Heathrow to New York was forced to turn around when the pilot was dazzled by a laser beam.
The Airbus 340, carrying more than 260 people was hit by the ray of light shortly after take-off.
The British Airline Pilots Association has called for laser pens to be reclassified as an "offensive weapon" due to the "alarming rate" at which aircraft are targeted.