Quackers - Terrorism against ducks

[Albus]

http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2047646_were_anglers_not_terrorists

Three anglers claim they were arrested under anti-terror laws in Woodley after using laser pens to frighten ducks away from their bait hooks.

The three men were taken into Loddon Valley Police Station late on Friday, March 7, and two were held overnight, DNA tested, fingerprinted and then released without charge.

The third man was released almost immediately following the 10.30pm incident.

One of the men held overnight Mick Radomski, 53, of Drovers Way, Woodley, said they were using the “green laser pens” to scare the ducks at South Lake.

He said: “There were loads of people there fishing that evening. I wasn’t actually fishing myself but I was there with the others having a drink and a laugh.

“I had my laser with me. It is very effective for scaring off ducks. When you are fishing in shallow water, the ducks dive in after the bait and get the hooks stuck in their beaks. These little laser ‘guns’ are perfectly harmless as I understand, but they make the ducks go away.”

Mr Radomski, a driver, said a local police officer and two PCSOs arrived, confiscated the laser pens and took his name and address and those of two other anglers.

About 15 minutes later at least seven other police officers arrived and made the three arrests.

Mr Radomski said: “By this time, I had started to walk back home although I was still by the lake. I was called by my mate to tell me what was happening. Then the police officer called me and asked me where I was.

“During that time apparently the police had gone round to my house, woken up my wife Sharon who works as a carer and has to get up at 4.30am to try to arrest me. She was very upset.”

At the police station, he was interviewed by police officers and told there had been an incident on February 26 when an airline pilot has complained of laser lights being directed on to his aircraft in the Woodley area.

Mr Radomski said: “We are all men in our 40s and 50s and we were using the lasers to scare ducks. I can’t believe the police really could have thought we were terrorists.”

He said they were told they had been arrested for “endangering aircraft”. He would not be making a complaint.

He said: “I’m letting it lie, but I would like my laser back.”

The other two men involved were Martin Kailus, 57, who was held overnight, and a 48-year-old, both from Woodley. According to Mr Radomski, the latter man is making a formal complaint about his treatment.

The Evening Post knows the name of the third man but was not able to contact him at the time of going to press.

Former Lib Dem councillor Tom McCann said: “When I was in the Thatchers at the weekend and they came in and told me what had happened to them, I couldn’t believe it.

“These were all local men who knew some of the police officers involved. They were fishing on a Friday night. It doesn’t seem possible to me that the police really thought they were terrorists.”

Reading East prospective Parliamentary candidate for the Lib Dems Cllr Gareth Epps said: “Liberal Democrats repeatedly warned that the thousands of new criminal offences created under this Labour Government were dangerous and mostly useless.

“Now we have the surreal spectacle of local fishermen being thrown into the cells using anti-terrorism legislation. Local people are owed an explanation and those arrested an apology, as I understand some of them want to take this further, understandably.”

Police spokesman Adam Fisher said: “Three men were arrested in Woodley on March 7 on suspicion of endangering an aircraft and were later released without charge.

"Over the past year there have been several incidents in the Thames Valley area where civil aviation pilots have reported being dazzled by ground-based lasers shining into their cockpit.

“Obviously this is an issue that we have to take very seriously as it is a matter of public safety.”

A police spokesman clarified later that the men were arrested under the Air Navigation Order 2005 - not terror laws.