Drivers stunned with Tasers by carjacking gangs

DRIVERS have been warned to be alert after a spate of attempted carjackings where the suspects disabled their victims using stun guns before trying to take their car keys.

West Midlands Police urged motorists to stay vigilant as they stepped up patrols following a number of “Taser robberies”. In one incident, a runner was left with burns after she was attacked by three men in Kings Heath, Birmingham.

Barbara Partridge, a member of the local running club, said the “serious incident” happened on a well-lit street before a run last Thursday. “It was an attempted car theft by three young men who demanded a runner’s car keys,” she wrote on the club’s Facebook page. “She refused and an electric Taser device was used on her during a physical struggle. She managed to alert a passing van, the van driver stopped and the men ran away. She was shaken, is bruised and has seen a doctor who has assessed the burns left by the Taser. The police were called at the time.” The runner has not been identified. Robberies involving stun guns have been reported elsewhere. In November, a woman in her 30s was confronted at her home in Sale, Greater Manchester, by masked men, who stunned her before stealing her car.

West Midlands police have put out extra patrols after receiving six reports of stun attacks in as many days. Four teenage boys have been arrested and bailed over one of the attacks.

Stun guns are illegal and anyone caught with one faces imprisonment for possession of a prohibited weapon. The maximum sentence is 10 years. Figures released at the end of 2015 showed police forces had seized and destroyed hundreds of them.

A Home Office spokesman said: “Our firearms controls are among the toughest in the world and Border Force works closely with the police and National Crime Agency to prevent the illegal importations into the UK.”