Two arrested following laser incident in Liverpool

We have arrested two teenagers following a laser incident in Liverpool in the early hours of this morning, Friday 18 July.

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At midnight, the National Police Air Service (NPAS) helicopter, en route to an incident, reported that their aircraft was being targeted by a green laser from an address in West Derby. 

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Later on, air traffic control at Liverpool John Lennon Airport reported that flights into Liverpool had also been targeted. The NPAS helicopter returned to the area and identified an address on Haydn Road.

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Officers attended and two males were detained and arrested on suspicion of Shine/direct a laser beam into an aircraft. They are 16 and 13 years old, from West Derby, and have been taken into custody.

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Matrix Airport Inspector Danny Fortune said: “The sheer stupidity and recklessness of shining laser pens at aircraft is clear to see, and can have catastrophic consequences. We are grateful to the proactive work from NPAS in tracking down the suspects, and our colleagues at the airport for raising their own concerns. 

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“Working in partnership, we will always do all we can to reduce the risk to aircraft, so if you have any information please come forward and I would implore any parents, guardians and friends who are aware that people come into possession of such pens to strongly deter them.”

Captain Paul Watts, Head of Flight Operations at NPAS, said: “We cannot overstate just how reckless it is to distract a pilot and crew with a laser. It not only endangers those in an aircraft but potentially people on the ground too.