Newspaper report today
POLICE LET AMATEUR FLY THE FORCE HELICOPTER
A businessman with a fascination for police aviation managed to convince officers to let him fly the force helicopter.
Amateur pilot Mark Lamb, 30, impressed police airmen with boasts that he was a highly skilled commercial pilot, qualified to fly helicopters.
He was allowed to undertake training missions and was informally offered freelance flying work with the East Midlands Air Support Unit.
In reality, he had three years air experience and a private pilot's licence, Leicester Crown Court was told.
Although criminal proceedings were dropped, he may now be facing an investigation by the Civil Aviation Authority.
The court heard that Lamb, who flew on five force training missions over Leicester, managed to pass a stringent test with ease. There was no suggestion he had flown dangerously.
Lamb's barrister said his client had only wanted to experience training in a force helicopter. When he was unexpectedly offered freelance work on an informal basis, Lamb feigned illness, claiming he had cancer, to avoid taking up the opportunity and to conceal his lack of qualifications.
Barrister Tudor Owen defending, said Lamb could not actually have been accepted to work with the police ASU without evidence of advanced qualifications.
Lamb's private pilot's licence covered him to fly that class of machine solo, but the police would have required a more advanced standard.
Lamb, of North Kilworth, Leicestershire, denied attempting to obtain a pecuniary advantage by falsely representing he had an Air Transport Pilot's Licence between July and September last year.
The prosecution chose not to proceed with the charge after the judge agreed with defence counsel that Lamb's actions did not constitute a criminal offence.
Five similar offences were quashed, but Lamb agreed to pay £1,750 to cover the cost of his flights with the ASU.
Recorder Calder Jose said Lamb had been living in "a Walter Mitty world" and made up a complete fiction about himself. But that did not mean he had broken the law.
He added: "It's clear that never at any time did this man fly dangerously or even fly without the provision of his own licence. He obtained the fun of flying in a police helicopter over the sky of Leicester on five occasions. I imagine quite a lot of people would pay a lot of money for that kind of experience."
After the hearing, Lamb, who runs an information technology business, said his fascination for police aviation had got the better of him and he regretted his actions.
Remember the usual warnings about media reporting of aviation matters.