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Australia: 2+ years in jail

Lanfranco Baldetti, 23
Adelaide, SA, Australia


Baldetti pleaded guilty in April 2008 to “prejudicing the safe operation of an aircraft” as well as having illegal weapons in his car.

In June 2007, a green laser beam was aimed at a police helicopter flying over Rosewater in Adelade. The pilot was temporarily blinded for several seconds.

Baldetti said at one point that the helicopter pilot aimed a spotlight at him, causing Baldetti to retaliate with the laser. More specifically, when police told him it was illegal to aim a laser at an aircraft, Baldetti replied “What about him shining a big f***ing torch at me?… He started it.”

Sentencing was delayed because the judge wanted a psychiatric report on Baldetti: “This is, on the face of it, such a mindless thing to do. I’d like to have some expert view about what underpins this…. I would be much helped to understand what happened here.”

He could have been given a maximum sentence of 14 years. He was given a jail term of two years and three months. He will be eligible for release after 10 months.

He appealed his sentence but was denied by the Court of Criminal Appeal on August 21 2008.

From ABC News, The Advertiser (original report quoted in a forum post, psychiatric report, appeal),