Blind man tasered as police mistake cane for gun
Last Updated 18:29 24/02/2017
Mike McCarthy, North of England Correspondent
A blind man was tasered by police after his folding cane was mistaken for a gun.
Police were called to reports of a man with a firearm in Levenshulme,
Manchester, at around 6.40pm on Thursday.
Officers went to the scene and tasered a 43-year-old man, only to discover he
was carrying a folding cane.
He was later released.
Greater Manchester Police has since confirmed the man was blind.
In a statement, assistant chief constable Garry Shewan said the officers and
two witnesses "believed the man was acting in an agitated manner", adding that
in the dark "the folded cane appeared to be a gun".
He said: "An initial review of the incident leads us to believe the experienced
firearms officers carried out a suitable risk assessment and, with the
information he had available at the time, made what appeared to be an
appropriate decision.
"The man was uninjured during the incident and today officers have been with
him, and have now apologised for what happened.
"The man has accepted our apology and does not wish to make a complaint however
we will continue to review the situation."
He added: "Our officers have explained why a Taser was deployed and the man
acknowledged that his behaviour could have led to people being concerned.
"We regret that a Taser was used on an unarmed person and will continue to
review our training in light of this incident."
Human rights organisation Amnesty International has described the incident as
"extremely disturbing".
Head of policy Allan Hough told Sky News: "The Taser is a potentially lethal
weapon which should be used only in a strictly limited set of circumstances,
namely a threat to life or the risk of very serious injury.
"With growing numbers of police officers armed with Tasers, this incident shows
again that they should be getting the same level of training as firearms
officers."
He added: "We're calling for police officers to undergo rigorous training which
takes into account how to respond to people in vulnerable groups, including the
visually impaired."
The incident has been referred to the force's professional standards branch.
In 2012, a blind man was tasered in neighbouring Lancashire after his white
stick was mistaken for a Samurai sword.
Sent from Gary's ipad
