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Noord West Wales...
Check ook effe'Obsessed' ex-Anglesey councillor 'shone powerful light' at night-flying jets, court hears
17:13, 16 Nov 2015
Updated 17:36, 16 Nov 2015
The prosecution claim John Arthur Jones had a grievance with the RAF about its use of Mona airfield
A man who was said to have become obsessed with aircraft activity above the RAF Mona landing strip,
repeatedly shone a powerful light at pilots flying Hawk Jets in at night,
a court heard.
The lights,
said to have come from land owned by John Arthur Jones
at Parc Cefni at nearby Bodffordd,
caused dangerous distractions,
prosecuting barrister John Philpotts told a jury at Mold Crown Court.
The prosecution say Jones, a former Anglesey county councillor and director of housing had a grievance against the RAF and had at one stage considered legal action over night-time training.
Jones, 64, of Y Bwthyn, Parc Cefni, denies 13charges of endangering aircraft between November 2013 and September 2014.
Opening the trial, which is expected to last up to three weeks, prosecuting barrister John Philpotts
said that in interview,
Jones alleged that pilots were deliberately harassing him by flying over his property.
Undercover police watched man shine a torch at aircraft
He claimed that he would simply go out to inspect his property with a torch.
On one occasion he may have instinctively shone his torch up as a jet passed by but it was not deliberate. He denied tracking jets with his torch.
Mr Philpotts told the jury that an undercover police officer
RAF Valley was a busy air base – the home of 208 Squadron, which trained fast jet pilots, the prosecutor said.
Prosecution say Jones endangered aircraft as they prepared to land
It had an important relief landing strip at RAF Mona, which had been in use for over a century, close to Jones’ property.
An important part of pilots’ training was night flying, including training for safe take-off and landing in the dark.
“In a nutshell,
the case for the prosecution is that the defendant endangered aircraft and their pilots
by shining a bright light into the cockpits of Hawk Jets as they prepared to land,” said Mr Philpotts.
“He became displeased and angered by the aviation activity in the skies near his land.”
He became 'obsessed with aircraft flying out of RAF Valley'
Jones was so annoyed that he threatened at one point to raise a weather balloon
“It is the prosecution case that he became obsessed with the activity of the aircraft flying out of RAF Valley,” he said.
Jones kept detailed notes
Two powerful lights were recovered on his arrest.
The light was 'so intense it was distracting and disorienting'
Jones denied that they would have been sufficiently strong to illuminate the cockpit of the aircraft.
The first prosecution witness, Wing Commander Nicholas Gatonby, at the time the commanding officer
“It was so intense it was distracting and disorientating,” he explained.
The landing was abandoned on that occasion and the matter was reported.
Cross-examined by Lisa Judge, defending, he denied that the location he had pinpointed as the source of the light was a “guesstimate”.
He said that it was impossible write down the co-ordinates while flying the aircraft, but he had done it as soon as possible after he returned to the base.
Re-examined, he said that he was confident that the source of the light came from the area he had pin-pointed on a map.
The case continues.
http://www.pprune.org/military-aviation ... -mona.html
voor meer achtergronden over de beste man.
Ja, ook corruptie:
https://paddyfrench1.wordpress.com/2013 ... ouncillor/