Limit police use of Tasers, says Amnesty

MINISTERS were urged to limit the issue of Taser guns to police as the latest figures for deaths linked to the weapons were released.

The Government said last month that it would issue 10,000 of the weapons and would routinely issue them to non-firearms officers.

But human rights group Amnesty International said that since 2001, 334 people have died in America after being shot by the weapons, which deliver a 50,000-volt shock. It added that 90 per cent of those were unarmed and many were shocked repeatedly.

Amnesty's arms programme director Oliver Sprague said the weapons were "potentially lethal", adding: "The Taser is clearly a dangerous weapon and should only be used in very limited circumstances to protect life or avoid serious injuries. It must be kept in the hands of a small number of highly trained specialist officers."

The Metropolitan Police Authority has rejected the Home Office offer of more Taser guns because of their "potential to cause fear and damage public confidence".

But a Home Office spokesman said: "We are committed to providing the police with the tools they tell us they need. We have undertaken rigorous testing of Taser, submitted these devices for independent medical assessment and we are advised that the risk of death or serious injury is very low."