Laser chopper menace faces jail

A man repeatedly shone a laser into the cockpit of a police helicopter, causing the pilot to abort his mission, a court heard. Claudiu Balan, 28, was standing out in a back garden in his shorts and slippers when he began flashing the toy towards the chopper late on 26 August. Balan shone the laser at the helicopter for 20 minutes as it hovered 1,300ft above the address in Matcham Road, Leytonstone, east London. He managed to aim the light…