British cop blasts blind stroke victim with 50,000-volt taser after 'mistaking' walking cane for samurai sword

Friday, October 26, 2012 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: stroke victim, taser, police

(NaturalNews) When 61-year-old Colin Farmer, a blind, retired architect and stroke victim from the British town of Lancashire, was forced to the ground recently while walking to meet his friends for dinner, he thought he was being murdered. But in reality, Farmer was actually suffering reckless abuse at the hands of a British police thug, who says he mistook the elderly man's walking cane for a samurai sword prior to needlessly blasting him with a 50,000-volt jolt from a taser gun.

As reported by Sky News, the father of five sons and grandfather of two children had been making his way through an alleyway on the way to a dinner engagement one evening when an unknown man began yelling behind him. Thinking he was about to be mugged, Farmer proceeded more quickly to feel his way out of the alley with his white walking stick, which quickly became the target of an absolutely horrifying abuse of authority.

Thug cop claims Farmer's walking stick was a samurai sword

According to accounts, an unnamed officer from the Lancashire Constabulary shot Farmer in the back after allegedly mistaking his walking cane for a samurai sword, upon which the elderly man crumpled face down to the ground in agony, dropping his walking stick next to him. The officer proceeded to jam his knee into Farmer's back as he aggressively handcuffed him, even though it was clear at this point that Farmer's cane was not a samurai sword.

"I was slowly making my way down the street when I heard this man shouting. I had no idea it was directed at me and I just kept thinking, 'I've got to get out of here' because I thought they were hooligans trying to mug me. I was terrified," explained Farmer to reporters.

"But suddenly I felt a huge force on my back and this electric shock went right through my body. I thought I was being killed. My muscles just went and I dropped my walking stick and collapsed on to the floor. I thought I was having another stroke. It was like being hit by lightning. I dropped to the floor with my cane and I was shouting all the time, 'I'm blind! I'm blind!'"

Heartless cop continues to abuse blind man even after observing walking stick

Farmer says his pleas for mercy were ignored by the officer, who proceeded to mistreat him even after it was abundantly clear that he was absolutely no threat to anyone. But the damage had already been done, as Farmer, who is already partially paralyzed on one side as a result of one of his strokes, had to be taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

"I told him he was hurting me but he wasn't listening. He used such force when he put the handcuffs on that he broke a small bracelet which was a family heirloom belonging to my grandfather," added Farmer about the incident. "He was not an officer of the law; he was an absolute thug with a license to carry a dangerous weapon."

According to the U.K.'s Daily Mail, the Lancashire Constabulary is refusing to punish the officer responsible for the attack, even after admitting that it was out of line. But Farmer says he plans to take legal action against the force, as well as push to have the officer responsible charged with assault.

Sources for this article include:

http://news.sky.com

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/oct/17/police-taser-blind-man-stick

http://www.dailymail.co.uk