Laser pen shone at aircraft over North Lincolnshire

The warning comes following an incident reported to police earlier this week which referred to a laser pen being shone at an aircraft in flight over the Appleby area of North Lincolnshire.

The aircraft was en route to a nearby airport at around 10pm on Monday 11 May when the incident happened. The aircraft went on to land safely there despite the incident.

A reminder is issued that not only are incidents of this nature a potential threat to public safety, they are also against the law.

Sergeant Howard Garlick of Scunthorpe’s Community Policing Team said: “The law states that it is an offence to behave recklessly or negligently or act in a manner likely to endanger the safety of an aircraft.

“We will always investigate reports of this nature and seek to prosecute anyone participating in this kind of behaviour. People may not be aware that if found guilty of such an offence they could face a prison sentence.”

Anyone with information in connection with this incident should call police on 101 quoting crime reference number BN/2113545.