Philip Smith: ‘Idiot’ who shined laser beam on police helicopter avoids jail

Sentencing Philip Smith at Newtownards District Court on Tuesday, District Judge Francis Rafferty told the 39-year-old: “This was stupid behaviour – don’t repeat it.”

Last month, Smith, of Carmeen Gardens in the city, pleaded guilty to a charge that he “shine[ed]or direct[ed]a laser beam at a vehicle, namely a police helicopter, which was moving or about to move, and the laser beam blinded or distracted, or was likely to blind or distract, a person in control of the vehicle.”

The prosecutor told the judge that on July 12, 2022, “the police became aware of a laser aimed at a police plane that had flown out of a property in Ards.”

Officers found Smith’s address and when spoken to he claimed he had been shining a laser at Scrabo Tower. However, the court heard the helicopter captured footage of the defendant “which clearly shows the man tracking the aircraft with a laser and shining it at the helicopter three times”.

During interviews, Smith told officers he bought the laser while on vacation in Bulgaria, but maintained he was pointing it at Scrabo Tower and “had no idea there was a police helicopter there.”

“He apologized, but told the police that he had no such intention,” said a PPS lawyer.

In making a mitigating plea, defense lawyer Conan Rea conceded that the “best that can be said” about Smith is that he had a spotless record, pleaded guilty and “now appreciates how stupid it was.”