Lancashire Police have apologised to 61-year old Colin Farmer after he was stunned with a50,000 watt Taser (pictured above in a 2009 police demonstration) which made him drop his stick and fall to the ground.
The police had received several independent reports of a man walking through town with a samurai sword, however Mr Farmer was just walking to the pub to meet a friend when an officer made an unfortunate error of judgement.
“A description of the offender was circulated to officers and patrols were sent to look for the man,” Ch Supt Stuart Williams has said.
“One of the officers who arrived in Chorley believed he had located the offender. Despite asking the man to stop, he failed to do so and the officer discharged his Taser.”
Mr Farmer was taken to hospital and received treatment for his injuries sustained by being zapped by a police-strength Taser.
The case has been referred to the IPCC (Independent Police Complaints Commission) to find out exactly a blind man walking slowly along the road was mistakenly misidentified as a threat to the public, and how exactly his white cane was mistaken for a lethal, samurai weapon
Photo: Getty
