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In Touch: Blind man mistakenly tasered. Returning a Guide Dog

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28/02/2017

Blind man mistakenly tasered. Returning a Guide Dog

BBC Radio 4 - In Touch, Blind man mistakenly tasered. Returning a Guide Dog

Why was a blind man mistakenly tasered. Red Szell on returning his guide dog.

Why did Greater Manchester firearms officers mistake a blind man's cane for a gun? Red Szell explains why he has decided to return his guide dog.

on February 23, Greater Manchester Police were called to Levenshulme by two witnesses who reported a man with a gun behaving in an agitated manner.

The attending firearms officers tasered the man and subsequently discovered he was blind and that what had been thought to be a gun was, in fact, his folding white cane. This follows a similar incident in 2012 when a blind man's white stick was mistaken for a samurai sword.

In last week's case, the police apologised, and the Professional Standards Branch of Greater Manchester Police, carried out an investigation. It found that the police had acted appropriately and the blind man has not, thus far, made a complaint.

We speak to Solicitor Advocate Sophie Khan who represented the case in 2012 on her concerns about the training undertaken by police when it comes to tasering vulnerable people.

Steve White, chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, tells us that the training and policies in this area are constantly being reviewed.

Red Szell tells us why he's decided to part with his firs guide dog after nine months.

Presenter: Peter White

Producer: Lee Kumutat

Editor: Eleanor Garland.

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