For Merseyside police, the "eye in the sky" arrest was a landmark moment in policing history. The force had managed to track down and apprehend a teenager who had fled from a presumed stolen Renault Clio, senior officers revealed, by using a remote-controlled flying robot equipped with thermal imaging cameras.Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaah fucking twats.
But the attempt to claim credit for the UK's first arrest using a surveillance drone backfired tonight after it emerged the force itself could face prosecution because officers flew the surveillance aircraft without permission – a criminal offence.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which regulates UK airspace, confirmed it was investigating Merseyside police over the apparently unauthorised use of its drone to pursue the 16-year-old after he fled from a suspected stolen car in Bootle. It is one of three UK forces using the drones.
Officials from the regulator's Aviation Regulation Enforcement Department (ARE), which investigates and prosecutes alleged breaches of airspace, are investigating the incident, and Merseyside police has told regulators the drones have been grounded with immediate effect.
The CAA was tipped off by the Guardian after Merseyside police released a statement to the media last week declaring it had broken new ground by making an arrest using its newly acquired Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).
Got to get your papers in order before you can go and do your fucking job, eh. Now they know how everyone else feels.
It's just occurred to me that the car thief will probably be able to have the conviction overturned, on the grounds that evidence was obtained illegally....
ReplyDeleteI'd have thought so. I'm no lawyer but judging from stuff that's been in the news in the past illegally gathered evidence normally kills a prosecution stone dead.
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