Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe BIRMINGHAM, England, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- A British police department released video showing how officers in a helicopter used a thermal camera to identify a man shining a laser pointer at the craft. The West Midlands Police video shows the helicopter being repeatedly targeted by the green light from a laser pointer before the crew was able to use a powerful thermal imaging camera to capture footage of Christopher Vowles, 23, partying with friends in Birmingham. Advertisement Birmingham Crown Court heard the helicopter crew were able to direct police on the ground to the party and Vowles was arrested after tossing the laser pointer into a neighbor's yard. Vowles was sentenced to a seven-month jail term, suspended for two years, in connection with the July 31 incident. He was also placed on two years supervision, ordered to complete 250 hours of community service and ordered to pay $642. Martin Knowles, regional manager of the National Police Air Service, blasted Vowles and his friends for the "deliberate act." "The demeanor of the people in the garden illustrates the attitude of many people -- laughing and joking and believing their actions were somehow harmless fun," he said. "But aiming a laser pen at any aircraft, be it a police helicopter, air ambulance or commercial plane, can have disastrous consequences." Advertisement "It's certainly no laughing matter," he said.
