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.
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.
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Click here for link to LibertyBy Linda Fort March 24, 2009
