This painful incident occurred on Tuesday 13th July 2010 when 49 year old Peter Cox from Somerset was stopped by police whilst driving his BMW motor car on suspicion of driving without insurance, a suspicion which later proved to be unfounded. Mr. Cox saw the Police car approaching in his rear view mirror and promptly pulled over outside of his friend’s house. Upon exiting the vehicle he was immediately confronted by a Police officer pointing a Taser stun weapon at him and although the officer promptly lowered the weapon, it discharged as he did so and it hit Mr. Cox in the groin and ankle, shocking him with 50,000 volts in the process.
The Taser narrowly missed the man’s genitals, knocked Mr. Cox to the ground and he had to be treated by paramedics. Mr. Cox suffers from Guillain Barre Syndrome which attacks the nervous system but he said that the pain he experienced from the Taser was worse than anything he had experienced before. He said “as soon as it was done the officer came running up to me apologizing and said it was an accidental discharge. It was dreadful. The pain was unbelievable. It was the worst pain I’d ever felt.”
The police are currently investigating the incident and although they admit that Mr. Cox was shot by mistake, they allege he was acting aggressively which is why the officer had pointed the taser, in order to calm their aggressive suspect. A police spokesperson released the following statement:
“On Tuesday morning officers stopped a man in Bridgewater suspected to be driving a vehicle without insurance. The man appeared to become aggressive and the officer removed his Taser in accordance with protocol. On lowering the Taser it was accidentally discharged. The man was given first aid at the scene but is not believed to be injured. Police are now looking into this incident.”
Mr. Cox strenuously denies having been aggressive and is now considering taking legal action against the police and is taking legal advice from his solicitors.
This story is clearly a rare occurrence in itself however thousands of people suffer injuries as a result of the negligence of others every year. If you have sustained injuries as a result of the negligence of others, be sure to get legal advice from specialist personal injury lawyers who can advise you as to whether you have a legitimate claim for compensation.