Police Increase Taser Use On Children

Police use of Tasers on children has increased, according to new figures.

There were 158 cases last year in England and Wales involving children under 16, Home Office statistics revealed.

In one incident, a policeman in Hampshire removed his Taser from the holster appearing to target a nine-year-old.

The Taser was drawn in 522 cases against someone under the age of 18 last year - up 173 from 349 five years ago.

In another case, a Taser was reportedly drawn against a 91-year-old man, the figures revealed.

However, Suffolk Police - the force involved - said they could find no record of it.

The same figures revealed black people are three times more likely to have a Taser used against them than white people.

In more than 12% of cases in which ethnicity was recorded - more than 36,000 of the 38,000 incidents - the person who the Taser was used against was black and of African-Caribbean origin or of mixed white and African-Caribbean origin.

Police have increasingly used the weapon over the past few years.

A BBC freedom of information request showed the weapon was unholstered 38,135 times between and 2015 although, in 80% of cases, was not fired.

The Police Federation - the union that represents police officers - voted for all uniformed officers to be issued with Tasers earlier this year.