Written question asked by Lembit Opik (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 10 October 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 12 October 2005. It was answered by Hazel Blears (Labour) on Monday, 21 November 2005 on behalf of the Home Office.

Taser Weapons

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions the use of taser weapons by the police has resulted in serious injury; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: The Defence Scientific Advisory Council's Sub-Committee on the Medical Implications of Less Lethal Weapons (DOMILL) has produced three statements on the medical implications of the use of the Taser. Copies have been placed in the Library. DOMILL's view is that the risk of life-threatening or other serious injuries from Taser appears to be very low and certainly very much lower than that from conventional firearms. A Taser Deployment Form is completed on each occasion that Taser is deployed. These forms are passed to DOMILL, together with any post-incident medical assessments undertaken by the Force Medical Examiner. From examination of these reports DOMILL are content that the medical issues attributable directly or indirectly to laser use were not unexpected and are addressed by their extant statements.

Secondary information