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UK electrician Tasered for carrying a screwdriver

Oct. 19, 2012
The story of a UK electrician who last year was Tasered with four shots of 50,000V electricity because he had a screwdriver in his pocket appears to have come to a happy conclusion. Chris Thomas had stopped by his local pub, the Railwaymen's Club, in ...

The story of a UK electrician who last year was Tasered with four shots of 50,000V electricity because he had a screwdriver in his pocket appears to have come to a happy conclusion.

Chris Thomas had stopped by his local pub, the Railwaymen's Club, in Swansea to help the owners with a lighting problem. After finishing the job and reportedly drinking several pints of cider he went shopping at a nearby store.

Things got a little strange after that, according to a report at www.thissouthwales.co.uk, which said, “An armed response vehicle had been called after he had been spotted by security staff in BHS (the store) with the screwdriver protruding from his pocket, and then followed by city centre rangers.”

The report said the charge against Thomas, known to his local buddies as “Ginger,” was thrown out because the court agreed with Thomas’ lawyer that “evidence given to the court from the five witnesses in the case was inconsistent, and that officers had not followed correct procedures before they had brought him (Thomas) to the floor in the shop, and used the Taser.”