Cop who Tasered blind man may be charged

(BBC): The police watchdog has passed a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) after a blind man was Tasered by police in Lancashire. Colin Farmer, 63, was stunned by a police officer who was looking for a man walking through Chorley with a samurai sword on 12 October last year. The officer is claimed to have mistaken Farmer's white stick for the sword. An IPCC spokesman said the CPS will now decide whether there is enough evidence for criminal charges to be brought. Tasers are designed to temporarily paralyse a target by delivering electric shocks of up to 50,000 volts. Farmer, who is registered blind and has suffered two strokes, was walking to a pub to meet friends at the time of the incident.

He said the electric shock forced him to drop his stick and fall to the ground. Mr Farmer was taken to hospital for treatment and later discharged.

A man carrying a samurai sword was later arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly.

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