Bognor man admits shining laser pen from home

Leonard Henry Turner, 65, of Aldwick Road, could not sleep on July 30 because of the seagulls at the back of his house. After scaring them off, he saw a red light in the sky and without realising what it was, he shone his green laser pen at it.

The police helicopter was returning to its base in Shoreham at around 1.20am after searching the Rose Green area looking for a missing woman.

The helicopter took evasive action to get away from the laser and directed police to the address, where ten minutes later Turner was arrested.

He initially denied it was him, but after police threatened to arrest him and his son, he admitted his guilt.

Turner, who is a coordinator for his local neighbourhood watch group, told police he had thrown it out of his bathroom window when he saw them arriving, but police found it buried in a plant pot in his garden.

He pleaded guilty at Chichester Magistrates Court on Friday to the charge of recklessly and negligently acting in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft.

He said in a letter to the police: "I am very sorry in the extreme for my actions. I had a couple of drinks in the evening which may have contributed to my actions."

Defence Jason Halsey said: "There is nothing sinister about what he did. He saw a red light in the sky, he shone this torch incredibly stupidly at this light, but he has no motive at all in bringing down a Sussex Police helicopter. It's a one-off incident of a man behaving rather stupidly."

PC Jon TIzzard from Chichester Police Station said: "It's extremely dangerous, it's not only going to risk the lives of the people in the helicopter, but if some sort of aircraft comes down in an urban area it's dangerous.

"Anyone that's caught doing it will be dealt with, we will aim to get them to court. If a laser comes from a residential address the helicopter can just hover several kilometres away and direct police on the ground to the address."

Turner was sentenced to a 12-month conditional discharge, and ordered to pay costs of 60.

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