Police 'can keep using stun guns'

The Police Service of Northern Ireland has 12 Tasers

The police in Northern Ireland can continue using the controversial Taser stun gun, the High Court has ruled.

On Friday Mr Justice Morgan dismissed an application to ban the weapon pending the outcome of a judicial review in January.

A Taser has been fired once since the Policing Board approved PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde's decision to introduce the weapon.

The PSNI has 12 Tasers which can only be used by specially-trained officers.

Mr Justice Morgan said one of the weapons had been carried on duty on 562 occasions, was deployed on four and fired only once since being introduced eight months ago.

He said the fact they had been used for so long without challenge and that arrangements had been made by way of training and deployment strongly supported the argument that the status quo should be preserved.

This was pending the full hearing of an application for judicial review brought on behalf of an unidentified Belfast child from a family said to have been affected by the Troubles in Northern Ireland.