A WELWYN Garden City man has been imprisoned for five months for shining a blinding laser at a police helicopter pilot.

Ross Millson, of Peartree Lane, shone the bright laser light into the eyes of the pilot, momentarily blinding him. The helicopter was responding to an emergency call when the incident happened near Panshangar in Welwyn Garden City on August 1 last year.

Millson, 20, pleaded guilty to endangering the safety of an aircraft at St Albans Crown Court today.

Sentencing him to five months behind bars, Justice Cooke said: “You jeopardised the safety of people in the helicopter and had there been a crash, a number of people could have been injured.”

Speaking after the hearing, Detective Chief Inspector Trevor Rodenhurst said: “We hope this custodial sentence acts as a deterrent to anyone considering doing something so reckless. Pilots can pinpoint locations to where the light is coming from and direct police resources.”