Raoul Moat: Taser Supplier Loses Licence
Tuesday September 28, 2010
The company which supplied Tasers used by police during a stand-off with fugitive Raoul Moat has had its licence revoked by the Home Secretary.
It comes after it had emerged that the gun fired at Moat by officers - the X12 Taser - was not licensed for distribution under the Firearms Act.
It had been claimed the use of the experimental Taser was at the discretion of individual forces.
But now Theresa May has said Pro-Tect Systems "breached its licence" by supplying weapons "direct to police that were only available for supply to the Home Office Science and Development branch".
The company also broke rules governing the safe transport of the Tasers, according Ms May.
In a letter to the Home Affairs Committee, Home Office minister James Brokenshire said Pro-Tect Systems has been issued short-term dispensation to distribute its remaining stock of the guns.
Sky News political correspondent Niall Paterson said: "This is potentially very, very serious indeed.
"We have now heard that the licence was not in place. Therefore, the distribution of these weapons was in breach of the Firearms Act.
"This gives rise to a number of questions, particularly given the uncertainty surrounding the circumstances of Raoul Moat's death."
Sources close to the Home Office were keen to not to attach any blame to the officers concerned.
Police had been practising with the weapon earlier on the day of the stand-off in July.
Standard Taser guns have a range of just a few feet, but the one in question is capable of far greater distances.
There is as yet no suggestion that the Taser played any part in Raoul Moat's death.
But an Independent Police Complaints Commission investigaton is still ongoing.
The shots fired by police and Moat occured within a few seconds and as yet it is unclear what caused Moat's death.
Source; news.sky.com
AND
Tasers fired at killer Raoul Moat 'should never have been given to the police'
Last updated at 9:14 AM on 29th September 2010
High-powered Taser shotguns fired at the fugitive killer Raoul Moat should not have been given to the police, it emerged today.
Home Secretary Theresa May responded to the revelation by stripping the private company responsible for importing the weapons of its licence to sell firearms.
Armed police fired two Tasers at nightclub bouncer Moat in an 'effort to stop him taking his own life' at the end of a tense stand-off in Rothbury, Northumberland.
Initially, it was suggested that - while the Home Office had not given formal approval to the so-called X12 Tasers - their use was at the police's discretion.
But it has since emerged that, while the police did nothing wrong, they should not have been given the powerful weapons in the first place.
Pro-Tect Systems, the UK's only supplier of Taser weapons, was only licensed to supply the weapons to the Home Office Science and Development branch for testing.
But, instead, it also gave the shotguns to Northumbria police and one other force.
This allowed the guns - which critics say could be lethal - to be trained on Moat , who had killed his ex-girlfriend's new lover, and shot a police officer at point-blank range - during July's siege.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating the events leading up to Moat's death.
It has yet to be established what role, if any, the Tasers played in the death of Moat, who blasted himself with a shotgun.
The Home Office said: 'Inquiries following the Raoul Moat operation revealed Pro-Tect breached its licence by supplying X12 Tasers direct to police that were only available for supply to the Home Office Science and Development branch.
'The inquiries carried out by Northamptonshire Police also revealed the company breached rules governing the secure transport of the devices and ammunition.
'Faced with these breaches, the Home Secretary has decided to revoke Pro-Tect's licence to supply Tasers.'
Officials insist there is no prospect of police facing any sanction for using the weapons - though Pro-Tect could still face legal action.
Moat's brother, Angus, said officers used his brother as a 'guinea pig'.
He added: 'They had not used them before, and that was not the time or the place to conduct an experiment.
'We have said all along we have concerns about the sequence of events that night.
He said the family was still waiting for the results of a second post-mortem examination.
The stand-off with the steroid-addicted Moat brought to an end one of the biggest manhunts in British history.
It was triggered when Moat shot his former girlfriend, Samantha Stobbart, 22, killed her new boyfriend, Chris Brown, 29, and blinded Pc David Rathband, 42.
The X12 Tasers, also known as the Taser XRep, are significantly powerful than the normal handgun version of the weapon - delivering an electronic shock over a far greater distance.
Oliver Sprague, director of Amnesty International's UK arms programme, said: 'The Taser XRep is a potentially lethal weapon which fires electric shock bullet-like capsules from a standard 12-gauge shotgun or a new-style Taser weapon.
'It can send up to 20 seconds of the same intense and debilitating pain as the traditional Taser - the traditional Taser sends five seconds of electric shock.'
Source; http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ds-newsxml
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