Laser ‘attack’ man in court
A man has appeared in court charged with dazzling a police helicopter pilot in a ‘persistent and deliberate’ laser attack lasting 20 minutes.
Yosif Angelov, 26, is said to have shone a light at the aircraft as it hovered 1,500ft over his home in Stratford, east London, on 20 June this year.
Officers on board the helicopter had been searching for robbery suspects when the lasers
distracted the pilot from reading the cockpit instruments.
Prosecutor Rosalind Fox said: ‘The strikes were persistent and deliberate.’
Ms Fox added that there had been a ‘minimum of 10 light strikes hitting the aircraft in the space of 20 minutes’.
Angelov appeared at Thames Magistrates’ Court in a grey suit and light blue shirt where he entered no plea to a single charge of shining a light at an aircraft in flight so as to dazzle or distract the pilot.
Tobi Olu-Iyiola, for Angelov, told the court her client claimed to have shone a light out after he ‘heard a sharp sound outside of his window’ and thought officers were simply there to ask what he had seen when they later turned up at his address.
‘He did not mean to distract or cause harm to the aircraft,’ she said.
District Judge Paul Clarke adjourned the matter for legal arguments to determine the appropriate offence Angelov should be charged with.
The judge told him: ‘I am releasing you on unconditional bail to appear at Stratford Magistrates’ Court on 18 July so that these legal uncertainties can be ironed out and hopefully decided upon then.
‘Then we will decide whether this case is one which should be dealt with at the magistrates’ court or the crown court.’
Heathrow Airport reported 121 instances of lasers being shone at planes in 2015 – the highest of any airport in the UK followed by Birmingham and Manchester.
Similar incidents occurred more than three times per day last year with the Civil Aviation Authority announcing 1,439 such events in 2015 alone.
A Virgin Atlantic flight was forced to return to Heathrow in February when the co-pilot reported feeling ill after a laser was directed at the cockpit shortly after take-off.
Angelov, of (78) Glenavon Road, Stratford, east London, was bailed to attend Stratford Magistrates’ Court for legal arguments relating to the charge on Monday 18 July.
