Businessman watches Scottish police use taser (From Croydon Guardian)

Businessman watches Scottish police use taser

1:41pm Monday 12th December 2005 in News

A Croydon businessman who saw police use a taser gun during a firearms incident last week has described the scene.

The man, who did not want to be named, was in a hotel bar in Glasgow when he witnessed a gunman being shot by police using the controversial stun gun last Tuesday.

Taser guns administer an electrical current which causes muscle dysfunction, temporarily incapacitating a person.

"I knew one of the guns was a Taser because I saw a silver flash come from it," the man said.

"The next thing I saw was the guy with the pistol on the floor shaking.

"The other two officers had conventional guns. An ambulance came and took the man away.

"This was pretty scary for a Tuesday night, in fact for any night. I am from Croydon.

"People say that is a rough place. But I have never seen anything like this."

A 42-year-old man was arrested by Strathclyde police after being checked over at hospital.

Only trained firearms officers are allowed to use Tasers, which are seen as a less lethal alternative to conventional guns.

Use of the Taser gun has been criticised by human rights campaigners who claim they have been implicated in the deaths of more than 100 people in the US after they were subjected to the 50,000 voltage weapon.