oopspff7,
Yes, longer would have been good. The new UK laws now going through Parliament will entitle him to a 5-year stretch next time, even if he tries it on a car or a train driver.
Malabo,
Nonsense. While some strikes are driven by curiosity, plenty are malicious. In this country, the police helicopters come in for special treatment, but we even have idiots having a go at HEMS. There have been blindings caused by laser pointers, some of them deliberate - the Royal College of Ophthamologists here will give you more information if you ask nicely. For the record, you can now buy lasers devices at 5W+ which will do you irreparable harm at >150m. I have no idea why the USA and China feel the need to manufacture them as there is no 'normal' consumer use for them.