Yard uses stungun for first time

The Metropolitan Police used the controversial Taser stungun for the first time when they arrested an armed man in Hounslow, Scotland Yard said today.

The Taser, which delivers a 50,000-volt electric shock, was used after the man approached officers brandishing a gun.

Police were called to a house in Hounslow last night after a man claimed he had been shot. But when they arrived, police discovered he had two pistols.

When he came towards officers with a gun, police first used a baton round - which fires nonlethal "rubber" bullets - and he fell to the ground. But when he got up again they used the Taser to disable him. The man was arrested and a cache of knives, weapons and ammunition were found.

A police spokesman said the man was not injured.

Stunguns have been on trial in five forces in the UK since April as a so-called "less lethal" alternative to conventional firearms.

They were introduced after a series of controversial cases in which people were shot dead by police marksmen.

In 2001, Derek Bennett, 29, was killed by police after wielding a novelty cigarette lighter shaped like a gun in Brixton. The same year, police shot dead schizophrenic Andrew Kernan, 37, when he produced a samurai sword outside his home in Liverpool.

Widely used in the United States by police, the Taser stungun has provoked criticism in Britain after it was claimed the shock could cause long-term health problems.

The gun operates by firing two wires with hooks attached at the target. The electric shock usually causes a person to fall down and allows police to arrest the suspect.

They have been linked to two deaths in America, but the Home Office insist trials have proved there is no health danger.