A legal team has challenged the attempt to market and sell tasers into Northern Ireland, according to the BBC:

Lawyers for the applicant claim there was a failure to carry out a proper equality impact assessment before tasers were brought in.

They also alleged the introduction breached the right to life and right to freedom from torture under the Human Rights Act.

Henry Blaxland, QC, told the High Court the use of Tasers was a matter of real public concern

This makes sense to me. As I have said before in this blog, tasers need to be considered a seriously damaging and life-threatening device, akin to torture. When more deadly force is impractical, a taser might be an option, but electrocution should not be seen as a safe or simple technology (as Edison proved many years ago when he electrified live animals in public to demonstrate the danger).

The next quote really worries me:

However, David McMillen, representing the chief constable, told the court that the weapons purchased were part of a pilot project and only issued to specially-trained officers who can use them in limited circumstances.

That is what was said in America, and soon after practically every officer in every state was carrying a taser with minimal training. The “success” criteria of the pilot should be highly suspect. “Specially-trained” should be carefully documented. Abuse of these devices is rife, and many deaths could have been prevented had police not abused/misused taser technology under the false pretenses like those put forward by Mr. McMillen.