A MAN who shone a powerful lamp at a police helicopter and dazzled the pilot has walked free from court.

Michael Renney, 25, was told he would have been locked up had the dangerous light been from a laser pen.

A judge told the company boss that he was also being spared because the dazzling lasted for just seconds.

Renney, of Kipling Road, Hartlepool, denied endangering the safety of an aircraft but was convicted after a trial.

He had been out shooting rabbits with friends and claimed he accidentally shone the lamp skywards as he moved it.

The jury last month rejected the account of Renney, the managing director of an electrical firm, and found him guilty.

Today, he was given a three-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, with Probation Service supervision.

Judge Peter Fox, QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, also ordered him to do 100 hours of unpaid community work.

During the trial, the court heard that Renney and three others had been out shooting rabbits in August last year.

They were returning from the trip when the high-powered lamp was shone into the cockpit of the helicopter from the road.

The pilot, Gardner Malcolm, said he saw the van's front seat passenger lean out of a window and direct the beam deliberately.

Renney claimed he was putting the lamp into the back of the van when it accidentally switched on and hit the helicopter.

The incident happened at 2.45am on August 9 as the van was being driven towards Middleton Road near the town's marina.