Beckenham man shines laser pen at police helicopter (From News Shopper)

He might have been taking offence at the seemingly continuous mass surveillance that now seems to be the norm in this "FREE COUNTRY"...

Of course, he couldn't say that, once he had been collared could he...? He might never have seen the light of day again!

It would be very interesting to know on what pretext this rather expensive method of state surveillance is justified...

There are instances filmed for the telly, that seem to suggest that a launch can take place when a couple of naughty boys steal a motor and go joy riding, or something equally as flippant.

Oh and by the way...

I do not believe that there is ever any justification for this man's actions... As he was advised by the police, it was a very dangerous thing to do.

Rather, I was thinking that there may have been an underlying reason for his stupid and reckless behaviour.

Well Polly what possible underlying reason could you invent for shinning a laser at a helecopter. Apart from being a numbskull that is.

Thank you web editor, just a little tippex to the story straightened it right out. I understand, you just cant get the staff these days !! ;)

A 26-year-old MAN. Not a boy but a MAN. He knew what he was doing.

He should be put on trial for attempted murder. No less.

Well ron.1952

As you can see, I made two comments...

The second was made because as a rider, it should have been the pre-cursor to the first...

But sometimes a gel can get carried away in the heat of a thought.

I see and hear those helicopters flying overhead seemingly continuously...

And it goes through my head sometimes, that perhaps there is not a really serious crime taking place that warrants the launch of a very expensive helicopter (at our expense)...

...that perhaps there might be a more cost-effective way of dealing with the immediate problem.

If I picked up my weekly copy of the News Shopper, and it contained lurid stories of murder and mayhem in the area on a continuous basis (serious rioting etc..), I might not have these suspicions. The reality is that most of the time, the most serious problems are stupid kids doing stupid things.

But I repeat, and as I said in my second comment....

THERE IS NO GOOD REASON TO DO SUCH A THING, it is very dangerous... As I wrote. The underlying reason that I spoke of in both the first comment and this comment, is not an underlying reason to shine a laser in some chap's face (particularly a pilot). It was badly phrased, what I meant was, that he may have been fed up with being buzzed by these infernal machines...

I have a similar problem, living as I do fairly close to Bromley police station, with the police car sirens blasting away through the night...

...Surely, when the roads are quieter after 23:00 hrs, and when it is also always dark, a flashing blue light should suffice.... Instead we routinely get sirens blasting away, seemingly all night long.

I seem to remember that in the Highway code that sounding a horn after 23:30 is illegal...

..."The horn. Use only while your vehicle is moving and you need to warn other road users of your presence. Never sound your horn aggressively. You MUST NOT use your horn
while stationary on the road
when driving in a built-up area between the hours of 11.30 pm and 7.00 am
except when another road user poses a danger.
"

Yes Polly. Only use the horn when it is really necessary.

Though I must admit I have used mine in a car whilst stationary but that's another story.

Tee hee...

Thank you, Polly. Nice to hear you laff.

Tug do you ever find you user name a draw back at all ?


Polly I think you need to move house, how on earth do you sleep at night under all that duress, it must play havoc on your nerves dear.

Ron

Polly Staight wrote:
Well ron.1952

As you can see, I made two comments...

The second was made because as a rider, it should have been the pre-cursor to the first...

But sometimes a gel can get carried away in the heat of a thought.

I see and hear those helicopters flying overhead seemingly continuously...

And it goes through my head sometimes, that perhaps there is not a really serious crime taking place that warrants the launch of a very expensive helicopter (at our expense)...

...that perhaps there might be a more cost-effective way of dealing with the immediate problem.

If I picked up my weekly copy of the News Shopper, and it contained lurid stories of murder and mayhem in the area on a continuous basis (serious rioting etc..), I might not have these suspicions. The reality is that most of the time, the most serious problems are stupid kids doing stupid things.

But I repeat, and as I said in my second comment....

THERE IS NO GOOD REASON TO DO SUCH A THING, it is very dangerous... As I wrote. The underlying reason that I spoke of in both the first comment and this comment, is not an underlying reason to shine a laser in some chap's face (particularly a pilot). It was badly phrased, what I meant was, that he may have been fed up with being buzzed by these infernal machines...

I have a similar problem, living as I do fairly close to Bromley police station, with the police car sirens blasting away through the night...

...Surely, when the roads are quieter after 23:00 hrs, and when it is also always dark, a flashing blue light should suffice.... Instead we routinely get sirens blasting away, seemingly all night long.

I seem to remember that in the Highway code that sounding a horn after 23:30 is illegal...

..."The horn. Use only while your vehicle is moving and you need to warn other road users of your presence. Never sound your horn aggressively. You MUST NOT use your horn
while stationary on the road
when driving in a built-up area between the hours of 11.30 pm and 7.00 am
except when another road user poses a danger.
"

The real motive for the helicopters to be out on regular fly-by's is the sweeps they do with the heat detecting camera onboard. They do regular sweeps on neighbourhoods, passing information about irregular heat patterns coming from domestic properties to police, who will then follow up and then raid the property if they believe cannabis is being grown there. You often see a correlation between increased helicopter flights and raids on domestic cannabis factories.

Are you telling us that people grow Micky Duff in their loft space. Well my old flabber is agast.

Ron

There were certainly some irregular heat patterns in my house this summer.

One minute my wife is cold so she puts the duvet on. Then she is too hot so she pulls it off. Then she is cold again so she reaches over and pulls it off me so she can regain some warmth. Then I get cold so I yank it off her.

Welcome to married life. Where's that joint?

Polly Staight wrote:
He might have been taking offence at the seemingly continuous mass surveillance that now seems to be the norm in this "FREE COUNTRY"... Of course, he couldn't say that, once he had been collared could he...? He might never have seen the light of day again! It would be very interesting to know on what pretext this rather expensive method of state surveillance is justified... There are instances filmed for the telly, that seem to suggest that a launch can take place when a couple of naughty boys steal a motor and go joy riding, or something equally as flippant.

"There are instances filmed for the telly, that seem to suggest that a launch can take place when a couple of naughty boys steal a motor and go joy riding, or something equally as flippant"

So you don't think it's justified in this situation. I think you make light of joy riding. "Naughty boys"! What? You mean criminals who's actions could potentially kill someone. If someone in your family gets knocked down and killed by joy riders, would you think they're just "naughty boys"?

ONe time police would get every help from the public and we did not h ave laser pen in my day but we all help the police this thug needs a spell in a military glass house to teach him we dont behave like this in my country send him 300 mile from home no tv no telephone and the only won meal earned by a 12 hr tough manual rock breaking job or just have bread and water we need tough politicians not weak ones like cameron and clegg or miliband they are not real men to deal with the thugs of this country and i care tuppence what any one says i will vote for who i like and when i like we didnt fight 2 world wars for some thugs to try tell us who to vote for.THank you.

...i see the 'gay' comments from erastus piggott the 'failed' blogger are on show again!! failed!! failed!! failed!! rofl!!

...oh hello 'war-hero' didn't see you there then... indeed some good points you make there about the glasshouse regime... bring back the 'cat' n all that eh ? your heart is in the right place though... but... we got dave cameroon in office and all he is fit for is re-shuffling the 'pack'... same stuffed shirts - doing the same jobs - more crime, more immigration, more shortage of homes for brits, more of the same i'm afraid!! but hey, if the 'wall' can't afford a holiday all year - things must be looking dull and depressing!! rofl!!

@PaulErith...

No it isn't justified...

The roads are littered with people that give me the impression that they have never learned to drive... Indeed it is a mystery that they ever managed to get a driving licence, so if road safety was a concern when the helicopter was launched, perhaps it should have been a priority when licences were being handed out.

The precise figures are hard to ascertain, but a regular shufty through the News Shopper will demonstrate that the consequences of joy riding rarely end in anything other than a bruised kid hitting a lamppost, and funnily enough, that is often the consequence of gung-ho police chasing these moronic kids. I have experienced this myself...

My car was smashed up by a couple of boys that had stolen an Escort van and then crashed into my parked car while the police were chasing them around narrow Victorian side streets. I suspect that they would probably have left the van at the end of their road, when they got home, and it would have been recovered and returned to its owner, instead of resulting in two smashed up cars.

I am not making light of "joy riding"... Unlike the state/police attitude to being burgled, which is probably one of the most offensive things that people do to people. When that happens, there is no investigation, no police chase, no helicopter, indeed very little action at all, apart from the issuance of a "crime number" for insurance purposes.

@Indiginous pensioner...

...Yeah

'angin's too good fer 'em.

@Indiginous pensioner, Junes got loose again Tony. Mooooooooooooo, she said pull the udder one.


Right mates I'm off to the Northern Echo. Where's "Doncaster Ron" ROFL.

Polly Staight wrote:
@PaulErith... No it isn't justified... The roads are littered with people that give me the impression that they have never learned to drive... Indeed it is a mystery that they ever managed to get a driving licence, so if road safety was a concern when the helicopter was launched, perhaps it should have been a priority when licences were being handed out. The precise figures are hard to ascertain, but a regular shufty through the News Shopper will demonstrate that the consequences of joy riding rarely end in anything other than a bruised kid hitting a lamppost, and funnily enough, that is often the consequence of gung-ho police chasing these moronic kids. I have experienced this myself... My car was smashed up by a couple of boys that had stolen an Escort van and then crashed into my parked car while the police were chasing them around narrow Victorian side streets. I suspect that they would probably have left the van at the end of their road, when they got home, and it would have been recovered and returned to its owner, instead of resulting in two smashed up cars. I am not making light of "joy riding"... Unlike the state/police attitude to being burgled, which is probably one of the most offensive things that people do to people. When that happens, there is no investigation, no police chase, no helicopter, indeed very little action at all, apart from the issuance of a "crime number" for insurance purposes.

I agree with what you say about burglarly. A lot of the time I don't think that the policy get their priorities right. I was merely commenting that you appeared to make light of joy riding by refering to the criminals involved as 'naughty'.

Was that a slip of the pen PaulErith, when you wrote policy, instead of police?

Or are you perhaps interested in "lawful rebellion" (I'm not btw, just read about it)...

The supporters of that creed, usually refer to the police as "Policymen", as these days they spend most of their time dealing with statutory offences, as opposed to real crime.

Polly Staight wrote:
Was that a slip of the pen PaulErith, when you wrote policy, instead of police? Or are you perhaps interested in "lawful rebellion" (I'm not btw, just read about it)... The supporters of that creed, usually refer to the police as "Policymen", as these days they spend most of their time dealing with statutory offences, as opposed to real crime.

Just a slip of the pen. I have to write the word policy quite a lot at work, so it was just a force of habit.

I believe the argument for using the helicopter to watch stolen cars is if the police chase the driver (thief) may drive faster & put others at danger

The helicopter is out of sight (and as the stereo is on full blast they can't hear it) so it can be followed more safely

Which brings us back to the earlier point...

...a bit of an expensive way to deal with motor theft, especially as burglary, probably one of the nastiest crimes that is perpetrated by one person on another, is routinely ignored apart from the issuance of a "crime number".

Polly Staight wrote:
@PaulErith... No it isn't justified... The roads are littered with people that give me the impression that they have never learned to drive... Indeed it is a mystery that they ever managed to get a driving licence, so if road safety was a concern when the helicopter was launched, perhaps it should have been a priority when licences were being handed out. The precise figures are hard to ascertain, but a regular shufty through the News Shopper will demonstrate that the consequences of joy riding rarely end in anything other than a bruised kid hitting a lamppost, and funnily enough, that is often the consequence of gung-ho police chasing these moronic kids. I have experienced this myself... My car was smashed up by a couple of boys that had stolen an Escort van and then crashed into my parked car while the police were chasing them around narrow Victorian side streets. I suspect that they would probably have left the van at the end of their road, when they got home, and it would have been recovered and returned to its owner, instead of resulting in two smashed up cars. I am not making light of "joy riding"... Unlike the state/police attitude to being burgled, which is probably one of the most offensive things that people do to people. When that happens, there is no investigation, no police chase, no helicopter, indeed very little action at all, apart from the issuance of a "crime number" for insurance purposes.

"I suspect that they would probably have left the van at the end of their road, when they got home, and it would have been recovered and returned to its owner, instead of resulting in two smashed up cars"

Possibly - but if the police do not bother trying to stop stolen cars then it is giving the message it's OK to steal.

It was an Escort van, what if it had been a brand new Mercedes (stolen to order, or for 'export')?

Or are you saying the police should grade the types/value of stolen cars before deciding to stop them or not?

My son has an old Fiesta (all he can afford to run), it could come under the don't bother criteria - but it might be dumped & set on fire & he would then have to find the money to replace it, insurance wouldn't cover the loss and he would also face a substantial increase in premium

Theft is theft

What about my Reliant Robin van its got all my pegs and me lucky hever in it, would they not bother with that either ?
I need that van to take my old Ma dahn Reculver. She do like to stop half way dahn fer a gypsies kiss on the A2 at **** Corner.
Bottom line bro I need me van like.

Fa rting Corner

@reasonable75:

"Or are you saying the police should grade the types/value of stolen cars before deciding to stop them or not?"...

...No, I am not saying that, I am saying that whilst it might be great fun to chase around the streets after car thieves (whatever value) or sending the helicopter up to really make sure that the thief doesn't get away....

...is overkill and not financially justifiable, particularly (if you read my comments) when put in the same light as the attitude taken to burglary...

It's example time again...

When I used to live in Village Way in Beckenham, my partner and I had been picking the kids up from school, and arrived back home, to see our neighbour's back door had been forced and the thieves were inside... We dialled 999 and told them what was going on, they responded ultra quickly and sent someone round the next day...

...TO INVESTIGATE THE TEN BURGLARIES THAT HAD HAPPENED THAT AFTERNOON... THE BURGLARS JUST WENT FOR ALL THE HOUSES WITH PLASTIC DOUBLE GLAZED DOORS...

We had told the police that they were there, and they could not give a toss, probably chasing some kid who had nicked a packet of polo's.

Eventually, because they had been described fairly accurately by my wife (my memory for faces being not that good), they were caught up with, and they had been involved in just about everything, including kidnap.