Give us two-shot Tasers

After blind man blunder, police try an upgraded gun

A TWO- shot Taser stun gun is just months away from being placed in the hands of British police officers.

It could hit two targets or offer a second chance of hitting a suspect without reloading.

Senior officials are testing the 50,000-volt weapon in the United States as they prepare to apply for an import licence.

Critics said the move is further evidence that police forces are locked in a stun gun ‘arms race’ that could end in tragedy.

Officers are already accused of behaving like thugs after firing one of the devices into the back of a blind man. An officer mistook Colin Farmer’s white stick for a samurai sword before discharging the weapon in Chorley, Lancashire.

The 61-year- old is preparing to sue police, while officials from the independent police watchdog are examining his case.

Amnesty International said the ‘disturbing’ incident illustrated why Tasers should be used only in the ‘strictest set of circumstances’.

Police and Home Office officials are spending a week at the Taser manufacturer’s training base in Scottsdale, Arizona. As part of their work they are evaluating the two-shot Taser, known as the X2, ahead of any further testing for use in Britain. The next step is to ask the Government to draft an import licence enabling it to be brought into the country legally.

The £700 weapon holds two cartridges containing twin metal barbs that are propelled at more than 100mph. They discharge a 50,000volt jolt of electricity which causes the suspect’s muscles to spasm for up to five seconds.

The device also comes with twin laser sights which the manufacturer says ‘helps take the guesswork out of aiming’. The weapon was created to give police a second chance if the first set of barbs do not pierce the skin. It could also enable a lone officer to shoot ‘multiple targets’.

If permission is granted to import the weapon it would be the first major change to the Taser arsenal in Britain since the weapons were introduced in 2004.

Deputy Chief Constable Simon Chesterman confirmed that the X2 is being ‘scientifically assessed’ in the US. The West Mercia officer, who has national responsibility for Tasers, said several hurdles need to be cleared before the weapon is approved. He said: ‘The police service is legally bound to explore alternatives to lethal force and continuously examines new technology to ensure if there are any developments which could be applied in UK policing.

‘The X2 would be subject to a raft of in-depth and lengthy scientific and medical tests in the UK prior to deciding whether it was viable for use in policing here.

‘The implementation of any new Taser would also need the approval of the Secretary of State.’

The shooting of Mr Farmer is the latest in a series of incidents which have raised concerns among critics of the Taser. A Met Flying Squad officer tasered a schoolboy of 17 when he mistook him for an armed robber outside a jewellers in Tottenham last month. In 2009, a man of 40 was shot with a stun gun while being treated by paramedics after having an epileptic fit at a gym.

However, chiefs at forces including the Met, Thames Valley and Wiltshire have indicated they want more Tasers.

An overdue report on Taser use is expected to reveal a huge rise in the number of incidents in which they were used. According to research by the Daily Mail, Tasers were fired at suspects at least 1,081 times last year, compared with 744 in 2010.

Amnesty International said the Farmer case shows why officers must undergo ‘rigorous’ training.

ToDAY’S high-velocity edition of Mind How You Go comes from Chorley, Lancashire, where police Tasered a blind man on his way to the pub. According to the officer involved, he mistook Colin Farmer’s white stick for a samurai sword. As you do. It’s the kind of mistake anyone could make.

So when the 61-year-old stroke victim ignored an instruction to stop, the cop pumped 50,000 volts into him.

Mr Farmer, a grandfather of two, said: ‘I was slowly making my way down the street when I heard this man shouting. I had no idea it was directed at me and I just kept thinking: “I’ve got to get out of here,” because I thought they were hooligans out to mug me. I was terrified.

‘But suddenly I felt a huge force on my back and this electric shock went right through my body. My muscles just went and I dropped my walking stick and collapsed on to the floor. I thought I was having another stroke.

‘It was like being hit by lightning. I was shouting all the time: “I’m blind! I’m blind!”’

Mr Farmer’s petrified pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears. While he was face down on the pavement, the officer jumped on his back and handcuffed him. He used such force that he broke a bracelet Mr Farmer was wearing.

‘It was obvious I was blind and did not pose a threat to anyone. I walk at a snail’s pace, but this officer was on a mission to use that gun no matter what.’

Mr Farmer was left blind following a stroke in 2008 which left him partially paralysed down one side. He suffered a second stroke following a brain haemorrhage earlier this year.

He may be 61, but I hope he will forgive me for observing that as a result of his disabilities he could pass for 15 years older. A television reconstruction of his journey to the pub shows him picking his way uncertainly along the kerb with his white stick.

HoW the hell could any police officer confuse a white stick with a samurai sword, let alone conclude that Mr Farmer posed a clear and present danger to life and limb? At 5.45pm last Friday, when the unprovoked attack took place, it was still daylight in Chorley.

If this trigger-happy cop can’t tell the difference between a blind 61-year-old man and a Mutant Ninja Turtle, then he’s the one who needs a white stick.

What’s even more disturbing is that Mr Farmer was Tasered in the back. He wasn’t even advancing towards the officer.

Surely when Mr Farmer hit the deck, writhing in agony, the officer must have realised he’d made a terrible mistake. Instead he knelt on his back and handcuffed him.

Just as well Mr Farmer didn’t have a guide dog with him, otherwise this could have turned into Gunfight At The oK Corral.

It’s only a couple of weeks since police in Welshpool surrounded and shot a stray cow. That followed the decision of the armed response wing of the North Wales Traffic Taliban to Taser a sheep which was blocking the A55.

Both those incidents raised a laugh in this column. But the violent assault on Mr Farmer is way beyond a joke.

What on earth was going through the mind of this officer? We can only speculate. Patrols had been told to be on the lookout after someone reported a man with a samurai sword on the loose.

Was this policeman so pumped up with adrenaline that he wasn’t taking any chances and decided to shoot first and ask questions later?

Needless to say, we will have to wait ages for an answer. Mr Farmer’s complaint has been kicked into the long grass — sorry, referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which will now retire for the duration to consider its verdict of ‘not guilty’.

Whenever there are allegations of excessive use of Taser guns, the IPCC normally finds for the police.

officers who Tasered an 89-yearold Alzheimer’s sufferer in Llandudno were subsequently cleared of wrongdoing, as were police who Tasered a man in Nottingham when he was already on the floor.

Earlier this year, diplomatic squad officers shot 50,000 volts into a worse- for- wear Kuwaiti diplomat they caught urinating on Tony Blair’s doorstep at 3am. Some of us thought he was performing a public service.

But when the old Bill are using Tasers to flatten harmless drunks, we are entitled to express concern. Last year, the use of Tasers by police increased by 45 per cent. The Police Federation wants every officer in Britain to be routinely armed with a Taser gun.

No oNE is underestimating the dangers officers face on Britain’s streets, as the tragic deaths of two women PCs in Manchester recently reminded us. And this column has consistently supported the right of properly-trained police to fight fire with fire when faced with armed and dangerous criminals.

But the fear is that the Taser, far from being the last line of defence, has become a weapon of first resort. And there’s a new, super-powered, double-shot version on the way. If you give the police more expensive and elaborate kit, they will always find a reason to use it. Look at the way they scramble helicopters given the flimsiest excuse.

The police argue that Taser guns are ‘non-lethal’ weapons. Well, up to a point, copper. In America, more than 300 people have been killed after being zapped by Tasers.

Colin Farmer certainly considers himself lucky to be alive. He describes his assailant as as ‘an absolute thug with a licence to carry a dangerous weapon’.

Yet, although Mr Farmer has received a stock apology, the officer involved hasn’t even been suspended from duty and is facing no disciplinary action.

If Mr Farmer’s recollection of the incident is correct — and it hasn’t been contradicted by Lancashire Police — this should be a matter for the Crown Prosecution Service, never mind the IPCC.

Even David Blunkett, himself blind and the former Labour Home Secretary who authorised the introduction of Tasers back in 2004, says he is ‘ stunned’ by what happened in Chorley. Not half as stunned as Colin Farmer.