Philip Houghton, 25,  sobbed in the dock as he was jailed for five months for shining a laser pen at a police helicopter (Picture: Ross Parry)
A man has been jailed for shining a laser beam at a police helicopter.
Philip Houghton, 25, directed a laser beam from a small device as the helicopter hovered over his hometown, Hull.
The 25-year-old had bought the pen online from China to entertain his dog but directed the beam at the aircraft because he was bored while waiting for a takeaway, Hull magistrates court heard.
The helicopter was being used to search for a suspect after a shooting in East Yorkshire.

BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE Handout screengrab from footage dated 17/02/15 issued by the National Police Air Service of an incident in which a laser was directed at a police helicopter, leading to a man being arrested and charged. Pilot Ollie Dismore, director of operations for the NPAS has been targeted at least 20 times with a laser and has said it is "quite an unnerving" thing to happen while in the air. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Wednesday February 17, 2016. Dismore said there were 108 reports of lasers being used against force helicopters last year alone. See PA story AIR Lasers. Photo credit should read: NPAS/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
In February last year. a similar incident occured where a man was arrested and charged for shining a laser at a police helicopter (Picture: NPAS/PA Wire)
Houghton admitted endangering an aircraft or person in an aircraft but said he was only trying to see how far the laser could go.
District Judge Frederick Rutherford said the seriousness of the offence warranted a prison sentence and ordered him to pay a victim surcharge of £80.

He said: ‘It is only a matter of time before a tragedy is caused by this type of behaviour.
‘You cannot expect by the fact you deliberately targeted the helicopter with your laser that you did not endanger it and by so doing you endangered the pilot.
‘To do this as a man of your age and your responsibility is beyond belief.’
BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE Handout screengrab from footage dated 27/02/11 issued by the National Police Air Service of an incident in which a laser was directed at a police helicopter, leading to a man being arrested and charged. Pilot Ollie Dismore, director of operations for the NPAS has been targeted at least 20 times with a laser and has said it is "quite an unnerving" thing to happen while in the air. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Wednesday February 17, 2016. Dismore said there were 108 reports of lasers being used against force helicopters last year alone. See PA story AIR Lasers. Photo credit should read: NPAS/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
(File picture: NPAS/PA Wire)
Amelia Woolen, defending, told the court: ‘He is an extremely hard-working individual. He works as a care officer with people with severe learning difficulties and in a taxi office.’
Humberside Police said: ‘People should never shine laser pens at planes or helicopters as it compromises public safety.

‘The mindless action can endanger the safety of an aircraft, those in it and the wider public. Those prosecuted face a prison sentence, as Phillip Houghton has discovered.’
Houghton has been jailed for five months.