Boy shone laser pen at police pilot after his PlayStation stopped working

A bored schoolboy dazzled a police helicopter pilot by shining a £5 laser pen into the cockpit when he could not use his PlayStation, a court heard.

The 16-year-old aimed at the aircraft as it circled 1,500ft above his flat in Fulham on February 3. Onboard equipment pinpointed the source of the beam and he was quickly arrested.

Prosecutor Robert Simpson told Hammersmith youth court the “consistent and deliberate” attack lasted about five minutes.

The boy told officers he had been on his PlayStation when it cut off — and when he heard the helicopter, he reached for the laser pen.

He told police: “I thought it was a normal helicopter or an air ambulance or something.”

The teenager pleaded guilty to acting recklessly in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft or person inside, and was handed a six-month youth referral order including 15 hours’ reparation as well as attendance in a thinking course.

District Judge Richard Blake said the boy had expressed “genuine remorse” but suggested he could also apologise to the helicopter crew in person.