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Ireland: "High intensity laser attack" during Coast Guard rescue

A Coast Guard helicopter based in Dublin was targeted by what the crew described as "a very high intensity green laser" light on August 22 2021, while looking for a man who fell overboard from a container ship, 16 miles offshore.

The helicopter, working with a Royal National Lifeboat Institution all-weather lifeboat from Wicklow, was able to rescue the man.

The crew was illuminated by laser light both on their flight from Dublin Airport to the ship, and during the return trip as well. It was not stated how much the laser light adversely affected the helicopter's search.

An Garda Siochána police were unable to locate the source of the laser.

From Joe, the Independent, and Q102

Ireland: Man found innocent of "recklessly" illuminating garda helicopter

A jury has found a Tallaght man not guilty of endangerment in a September 12 2009 incident where a garda (police) helicopter pilot was dazzled with a laser pen. During the incident, the helicopter pilot took his hands off the controls in order to block out the green laser beams, which tracked the helicopter. In addition, a fellow crew member said she suffered pain in her eyes and temporary vision loss.

When arrested, Anthony Gaffney, 25, told gardai that he did not realize the laser hazard: “I wasn’t trying to dazzle the pilot. I definitely didn’t mean to cause any hassle. I apologise for wasting police time”.

He was charged with “intentionally or recklessly engaging in conduct creating a substantial risk of death or serious injury to another”. During the two-day trial, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court Judge Patricia Ryan instructed the jury that the State’s case was not that Gaffney acted intentionally, but that he acted recklessly. She then read the legal definition: “conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk.”

The jury deliberated for an hour and a half before returning a not guilty verdict.

From BreakingNews.ie (before the verdict), and from Herald.ie and RTÉ (after the verdict)