A major police and aviation investigation, begun after the pilot of a passenger jet was distracted when a laser pen shone into the cockpit as it began its approach into Bristol Airport, has ended with a seven-year-old boy getting a telling off.
Police in Wiltshire launched the investigation after the pilot of an Airbus 321 reported that someone on the ground was shining a laser pen 11,000ft up into the cockpit . The position of the plane was logged, and the pilot said the pen appeared to be coming from the Calne area of Wiltshire.
The incident happened on Sunday evening as police described the action as 'foolish at best, fatal at worst'.
The next day, police made what appears to have been a breakthrough in the case, when a motorist driving through the village of Hilmarton, near Calne, complained to police that he had been dazzled by a laser pen.
Officers began house to house inquiries in the area, and soon found the culprit – a seven year old boy who had recently been bought a laser pen as a present.
He had been playing with it in the garden at both times the incidents were reported, and told police he did not deliberately aim it at the aeroplane overhead.
The boy, and his mother, were given 'strong words of advice', and the pen was confiscated by police. "I would urge parents that these devices are not toys and please do not purchase them for your children," said a police spokesman.
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