South Wales Police used Tasers on kids 10 times

POLICE fired Tasers at two 15-year-old boys when one brandished a weapon and another became violent.

The incidents were revealed as new figures showed officers from South Wales Police used Tasers against children on 10 occasions last year, down from 12 such instances the year before.

Across Wales the use of Tasers against children as young as 12 in Wales increased by 30% in 2016 compared to the previous 12 months.

There were 30 incidents where police officers used Tasers against children in Wales last year, up from 23 in 2015 and from 19 in 2014.

A 12-year-old in Monmouthshire was red-dotted in 2016 and was the youngest child a Taser was used on by any of Wales’ four forces.

A Taser was drawn against a 14-year-old boy with a bladed weapon by South Wales officers, while there were two incidents where the force fired Tasers, both involving 15-year-old boys.

One occurred where the child was violent and another involved an incident where the child had a bladed or blunt weapon.

Gwent Police fired on someone aged under 18 in Caerphilly.

There were 597 incidences of Tasers being used against children across the UK in 2016, according to figures released by police under the Freedom of Information Act.

This was a rise of 25% from 476 uses in 2015. The youngest children a Taser was used against in 2016 were a 10-year-old by West Mercia Police, where a Taser was drawn, and a 10-year-old in the West Midlands Police force area who was red-dotted.

Oliver Sprague, Amnesty International UK’s arms control director, said: “Any rise in the use of Tasers against children is of significant concern, not least because children are at much greater risk of serious harm from being subjected to this weapon.

“This is written loud and clear in Government scientific medical advice, with warnings given about using it on younger people. Police guidelines and training in this area must be significantly strengthened. With young people, given the clear risks of using Tasers against them, it must truly be a weapon of last resort, subject to intense scrutiny by the appropriate authorities with the most robust safeguards in place to protect children in these situations.”

Chief Superintendent Eddie Ough, of South Wales Police, said: “The use of Taser is constantly being reviewed to ensure it is appropriate in the circumstances deployed and relevant to today’s policing challenges. Although rare, the use of a Taser can sometimes include challenging situations involving individuals under 18 years of age – and this can be deployed to ensure we safeguard the public and our officers.”