A Staffordshire man has narrowly avoided a stint behind bars after dazzling a helicopter pilot with a laser pen.
Cosmin-lulian Alexa, 23, of Waterloo Street, Burton-on-Trent, admitted a charge of shining a laser at a moving vehicle when he appeared at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court earlier this week.
It is an offence under section 1 of the Laser Misuse (Vehicles) Act 2018 for any person to:
- shine or direct a laser beam towards any vehicle which is moving or ready to move, and;
- the laser beam dazzles or distracts, or is likely to dazzle or distract, a person with control of the vehicle.
The offence is triable either way and has a maximum penalty of 26 weeks' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction; 5 years' custody and/or an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment.
Magistrates heard that Alexa decided to shine his laser pen at the Eurocopter helicopter, similar to the one shown in the image (although it may not have been a police helicopter involved in this incident), as it flew over Burton on Sunday, 15th September 2019.
According to reports, Alexa claimed to lack an understanding of how dangerous his actions were.
Magistrates decided that the offence was so serious that only a custodial sentence was appropriate. They were, however, minded to suspend that sentence on the basis that Alexa pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and showed remorse for his actions.
Alexa was sentenced to 16 weeks' custody suspended for 12 months, with an 8 week electronically monitored curfew requirement.
He was also ordered to pay £85 towards prosecution costs and £122 victim surcharge.
Magistrates also ordered the forfeiture of his laser pen.
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