[Nfbf-l] UK Police sorry for tasering blind man

[Alan Dicey]

Dear Friends,
Please read below and I really thought this type of incident  a thing of the 
past!
I was really surprised, I mean, this is not a "Third World" country!
With Best Regards,
Alan
Miami, Florida

London - British police apologised on Wednesday for using a stun gun on a 
blind man
after officers mistook his white cane for a samurai sword.
Officers were responding to "a number of reports that a man was walking 
through Chorley
armed with a samurai sword", when they confronted Colin Farmer, who was on 
his way
to meet friends in a pub last Friday, in the northern English town.
When Farmer, 61, did not respond to their calls to stop, one of the officers 
used
his taser stun gun, which delivers a 50 000 volt shock.
"I certainly didn't know they were police - and I certainly didn't know they 
were
shouting at me. I thought I was going to be attacked by some hooligans," 
Farmer told
the Lancashire Evening Post newspaper.
Despite pleading with the police and telling them he was blind, he was 
handcuffed.
"It then became apparent that this man was not the person we were looking 
for and
officers attended to him straight away," said Chief Superintendent Stuart 
Williams
in a statement, adding the innocent man was taken to hospital for treatment.
"Lancashire Constabulary deeply regrets what has happened. We have clearly 
put this
man through a traumatic experience and we are extremely sorry for that."
Police later arrested a 27-year old man in connection with the sword reports 
but
released him without charge.
The incident has now been referred to the independent police watchdog for 
further
investigation.
- Reuters
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