A ‘GROSSLY immature’ yob who shone a laser pen into the night sky dazzling a police helicopter pilot has been given his final chance by a judge who said he could have caused a horrific accident.

Florin Sorescu fired the beam from the £9 pen into the sky in his garden in Greenstead Road, Colchester, while testing its strength.

But he inadvertently flashed the light into the police helicopter which was conducting a search in the town.

Sorescu, 22, had admitted acting recklessly in a manner likely to damage an aircraft or persons therein at an earlier hearing but claimed he had only done it once - rather than an alleged eight times - and was given a suspended sentence when he appeared at Ipswich Crown Court today. 

Daniel Taylor, prosecuting, said the pilot was forced to reroute because of the light.

He said: “The helicopter was participating in the search the pilot and officers in the aircraft were distracted by the shining of a green laser into the cockpit from the ground.

“The pilot had to turn the aircraft away from the source to reduce distraction and the dangerous dazzle.

“The pilot said the laser was shone at the aircraft between six and eight times on an intermittent basis over a ten minute period.

“The altitude was 10,000ft and the speed was approximately 40 to 60 knotts.

“Police staff used the onboard camera to identify the exact address at which the laser was being used from.

“Officers on the ground were then taken to Greenstead Road in Colchester and located the defendant.”

He initially denied all knowledge of the incident but the pen was found in a cupboard.

During police interview he accepted he had shone the laser into the sky but did not know there was a helicopter there.

Sorescu works at a car wash and sends as much of his earnings home to his mother who lives in Italy after she had to take out a loan to have her daughter’s body repatriated after she tragically died.

Paul Donegan, mitigating said: “He purchased the pen on e-bay for £9.

“He had it for about a month but this was the first time he had used it and he was unaware of the strength.

“The defendant, his brother and his mother are all working and earning money to pay off her debt.

“They are also trying to maintain his grandmother who lives in Romania.

“If he loses his liberty then the ability to pay it off would fall on one fewer member of the family.

“It was an incredibly stupid thing to do, it was grossly immature and he regrets it.”

Sorescu was handed a four month prison sentence suspended for 14 months.

He is already serving a 16 week suspended sentence for battery which could not be invoked because it was given to him after the laser incident in November.

Recorder Clive Jones said: “The light of a laser pen must never be pointed at an aircraft or helicopter.

“It is very serious as the beam becomes larger at longer distances.

“Just imagine you are flying the helicopter and this bright light suddenly takes up the whole of the cabin and you cannot see what you are doing.

“Think how that will impact a pilot – it doesn’t take much of a brain to understand a pilot could do something which would cause the aircraft to crash.

“The outcome of a crash would be that people would die – those in the aircraft and in the residential area below.”

Mr Jones said sending Sorescu straight to prison would cause significant harm to his family members so he decided he would suspend the sentence but warned it would likely be his last chance.

He must also carry out 60 hours of unpaid work and pay £350 costs.