Use of police Tasers on children rises 37% in a year

‘The former Home Secretary who authorised the use of Taser stun guns has called for a review into their use after new figures found that they were deployed on more than 400 children in 2013.

David Blunkett asked for the review after Home Office figures revealed that 431 children were involved in police Taser incidents in 2013, an increase of 37 per cent on the previous year.

The youngest person shot with the 50,000-volt stun gun was 14, research from BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast found, while police threatened to deploy the weapon on a boy as young as 11.’

Read more: Use of police Tasers on children rises 37% in a year