Lancs police taser a blind 61 yo man IN THE BACK. They thought his walking stick was a Samurai sword. One of them jumped on his back while he was in agony on the ground and ignored his pleas that he was blind. Thank God they do not carry guns. But remember we are only one piece of legislation from going down that road.

Absolutely disgusting..they want to send them all for eye tests..that poor man..I bet he was terrified.

It is not only their eyes that want testing. You can still be trigger happy with a gun substitute like a taser.

They should be sacked

Incompetent idiots

Perhaps the police officer should be the one with the white stick?

Tasered and handcuffed

I hope he gets thousands

I have just seen the footage on the news, I was horrified, the poor poor man, how absolutley terryfing it must have been and how unprofessional of the police officer that did it. A full investigation of what happened and why, it sounded like someone was pumped with adrenaline and lost their brain, and integrity.

This is the sort of thing that if someone told you in a pub you would accuse them of being drunk and talking gibberish.Totally unbelievable.This is assault,no more no less
sack 'em,end of.

Disgraceful. They should taser him to let him know what it feels like. Could it not be construed as an assault on the gentleman concerned??

The rapid arming of the Constabulary with these Taser guns is proving to be a warning.

I just hope they are never armed with anything more powerful.

Hindleyite - 'This is assault, no more no less sack 'em, end of'

We've seen a case in real life where a police officer was guilty of assault and the only outcome was him being moved from one local area to the neighbouring one.

It is assault and there are no two ways about it..

kick em out...just trigger happy bunch o dirty harry"s.
let proper traing commence now, because armed cops are a reality here in the uk in the not to distant future, given the terror upsurge taking place.
more brit born asians training in syria, more in afghanistan...tazers aint no use against these virgin cravers.let the training start pronto.

if this incompetent idiot couldnt tell the difference between a sword and a white stick he shouldnt be doing the job

genuine mistake I reckon

Who says you can't call police plebs?

I can't believe me and walshy agree but yes they should be sacked.

To be fair, Gareth, Billy said they should be kicked out. Rain man only copied that sentiment.

Posted by: walshy76 (8576)
They should be sacked

Incompetent idiots

Replied: 17th Oct 2012 at 17:53


oops

If the police were subject to the same rigorous penalties and prosecutions that affect the rest of society then they may think again before they shoot down an unarmed man or taser a bloke with a walking stick. They know though that they can virtually get away with murder.

then they wonder why theres so much friction between the public and the coppers

yes - and this is with the law abiding public who have no axe to grind!

Police today have tasered a blind man whose white stick was mistaken for a sword.Look out those in a wheelchair, or "Armoured Personnel Carrier" as they're known to the police.

And this incompetent lot are supposed to PROTECT the public

Most of them have a .them and us' mentality.

If it had been a young thug and not a 61 year old blind man, the police wouldn't have tasered him.

No, they'd have probably shot him instead.

Garibaldi biscuits!

Speaking as someone who was once attacked by a drunken old man, outside of Morrisons in Wigan, one Christmas Eve a few years ago, he swung out at me with his walking stick and if I hadn't have 'ducked' he would have taken me head off.

Just remember that the thugs and nutters of today, are genetically descended from the thugs and nutters of yesteryear and in this case, the 'tasering' of a blind old man is unacceptable, but old people can be just as violent and nasty, as young people and mistakes do happen, so I would say not to be to hard on the police, because I am sure that they did not do it on purpose ...

accidently tasered?
it could be worse than we thought

staff your comment @ 15 05 really made me laugh

I am sure that they did not do it on purpose ...

HAHAHA

he did it because he is an incompetent idiot

as for old people, you dont need to use a taser to put an old person down

look what happened to the lad who they pushed, for now reason, who later died

good medicine a chuckle

I agree with stoo those old people are nutters, should be all locked up

Anyone know the real story

Tonker made me do it

On a serious note, not that it excuses the actions of the Police, the chap was interviewed on Granada reports, they filmed him crossing the road.

Unlike how one may (well me) imagine, the chap held the stick outwards, as opposed to having it held downwards.

Sometimes see a chap round town with a white stick that has what looks like a golf practice ball on the end which is near to, or on, the ground.

The golg ball probably stops his stick snagging on the cracks in the pavement.

Probably, Kryten.

In all honesty, the tasered chap waved the stick similar someone holding a sword. Just above waist height.

That is something about the story that I can appreciate somebody assuming it was a weapon.

But not an 'armed' Copper.

Probably

Again, not defending the cop; but this pic gives a different impression to the story than the footage of the ppor chap as he crossed the road with the stich held almost horizontally.

But surely a cop has the time to identify a sword, which is a close range weapon. Hardly a handgun, which can be easily mistaken whether replica or real.

See here

I'm suggesting some misguided member of the public could make the mistake. (From a distance, or going past in a vehicle)

But not a cop, and certainly not when close enough to deploy the weapon.

See what?

Isn't it linking, TOM?

Try this.

http://www.itv.com/news/granada/2012-10-17/police-taser-blind-man-after-mistaking-stick-for-sword/

Granada News video 17 Oct ^^^^^

If you're having trouble, the feature also has this accompanying text:

Lancashire Police has apologised to a blind stroke victim who was struck in his back with a 50,000 volt taser stun gun. Officers mistook his white stick for a samurai sword.

61-year-old Colin Farmer said he thought he was being 'attacked by hooligans' when he was hit with the weapon as he walked to meet friends in Chorley.

Chief Superintendent, Stuart Williams, who is responsible for policing in Chorley, said: “One of the officers who arrived in Chorley believed he had located the offender. Despite asking the man to stop, he failed to do so and the officer discharged his taser.

“It then became apparent that this man was not the person we were looking for and officers attended to him straight away.

"He was taken Chorley Hospital by police officers who stayed with him whilst he was checked over by medics. They then took him to meet his friends in Chorley at his request.

“Lancashire Constabulary deeply regrets what has happened. We have clearly put this man through a traumatic experience and we are extremely sorry for that."

Officers had been dispatched following reports of a man armed with a sword walking around the town centre.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating the incident. Colin has said he wants the officer arrested for assault.

Oh, I thought there was something in it that I had missed. Link etc worked fine.

I'm now wondering if there actally was someone with a sword, and the reports were accurate.

Officers had been dispatched following reports of a man armed with a sword walking around the town centre.

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.


Here

EDIT

What Mr Blunkett actually said was:

Former home secretary David Blunkett, who is himself blind, said last night: ‘I am as stunned as Colin Farmer must have been by the Taser itself. After the Paralympics I genuinely hoped we’d made some progress

Same paper