A man who shone a laser into the cockpit of police helicopter dazzling the pilot with a light so bright it could have caused it to crash and kill the crew on board has been jailed. Andrew Paul Holden, 47, was branded 'stupid and selfish' by police officers after he shone the laser beam at the National Police Air Service (NPAS) helicopter as it flew over Radcliffe in Greater Manchester. Images of the bright green light seen by the officers show the dangerous 'bloom effect' it creates - easily dazzling the crew with potential catastrophic consequences. Andrew Paul Holden has been jailed after he shone a laser pen into the cockpit of a police helicopter
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Andrew Paul Holden shone a laser pen into the cockpit of police helicopter
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Light was so bright it could have caused pilot to lose control of the plane
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Helicopter crew helped police on ground track Holden to Radcliffe home
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The 47-year-old pleaded guilty to endangering an aircraft and was jailed
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Police branded him 'stupid and selfish' for his actions with the laser pen
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Shining a laser pen was made illegal in 2010, punishable with £2,500 fine
The helicopter had to abandon the job it had been called out to in @placeholder because of the incident.