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Re: Legal to shoot down neighbours drone?

by chorister » Thu Nov 02, 2017 6:05 pm

Papinian wrote:
papinian wrote:
papinian wrote:
MPSBatterseaSgt wrote:PS It is most certainly not legal to shoot one down!
If a drone is hovering in the middle of my back lawn, 10m above the ground, 2m within the boundary of my property in every direction, what law am I breaking by using an airgun (or bow and arrow) to shoot it down?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Still waiting for an answer to this from plod.
Quiet why do you have to be abusive to a local police constable who has taken the trouble to offer advice and guidance?

Re: Legal to shoot down neighbours drone?

by CDSW11 » Tue Oct 31, 2017 10:32 pm

It might be illegal to get a drone so close but once again, whilst the law is well-intentioned, how on earth do you enforce this?
Realistically, police won't care, and even if they did, AND caught the owner, would you pay lawyer's fees to take him to court? And then so what? ... The honest and legal option won't solve your problem.

I know what I would do but it is down to you to decide what you want to do.

Re: Legal to shoot down neighbours drone?

by parsleysong » Sat Oct 28, 2017 8:09 pm

My point, which you have deliberately ignored Petal, is that drones come in all shapes and sizes and it would be ott to ban anything marketed as a "drone". Many are harmless, like the one I purchased - no weight to it, no camera. It's basically a light flying toy that you direct on a handheld console. It couldn't have injured anyone or damaged any property because it weighed next to nothing! Get off your angry high horse. I've done nothing wrong so please pick your fights more carefully in future.

Re: Legal to shoot down neighbours drone?

by parsleysong » Fri Oct 27, 2017 7:27 pm

No, it didn't "plummet down on someone's head!" It was so light and that it got stuck somewhere in a tree probably. Like I said, they don't all have cameras and are more like radio controlled planes. Do you want to ban those Petal?

Re: Legal to shoot down neighbours drone?

by parsleysong » Thu Oct 26, 2017 5:16 pm

They don't all have cameras on them. I bought one for my son for about £25 and it's just a simple flying device and no more dangerous than a remote controlled toy plane. Agree though that camera or no camera they shouldn't be flying it into people's properties. Anyway, never again, he took it into the garden after a bit of indoor practice and promptly lost it outside of signal range so that was that.... :roll:

Re: Legal to shoot down neighbours drone?

by wonkymonkey » Thu Oct 26, 2017 12:16 pm

This web site might be useful:
http://www.noflydrones.co.uk/

Re: Legal to shoot down neighbours drone?

by rooting4tooting » Wed Oct 25, 2017 12:05 pm

I think a garden hose or pressure washer could be utilized. I inquired about a net gun, but they retail at about £700!!!

Re: Legal to shoot down neighbours drone?

by richard.denning » Tue Oct 24, 2017 3:47 pm

Whatever you do, DO NOT report a drone to the police. They won't do anything, but the only reason they want you to report it is so that IF you finally lose your rag and shoot it down, they know who to prosecute. It's perfectly ok for perverts and paedophiles to come onto YOUR land and film your children coming out of the bathroom, or to case the joint for the purposes of theft, but if you want to stop them, forget it. The police are only their to protect the villains. If you report it, you're done. There's never going to be ANYTHING you can do. Your property and your kids are now at risk and the police won't care unless the villain is at risk.

Re: Legal to shoot down neighbours drone?

by MPSBatterseaSgt » Fri Apr 29, 2016 7:54 am

mungomuffit wrote:There is a whole area of the law and lawyers now that specialise in drones and the associated issues like privacy. I would certainly be tempted to attack ( "just by accident" of course Sergeant Nathan :P ) one that was hovering around my property... . Brave new world eh.
I think most would be tempted, especially where there was an invasion of privacy.

Let us know if it happens though, we'll do our very best to get to the bottom of it. :)

Re: Legal to shoot down neighbours drone?

by papinian » Thu Apr 28, 2016 8:40 pm

MPSBatterseaSgt wrote:The striking of the drone itself by an airgun pellet causing it to crash would be criminal damage.
Plod is wrong.

Section 5(2)(b) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 provides for a defence of reasonable excuse to charges of criminal damage.

It is a trespass to place a chattel on the land of another. The chattel doesn't have to be touching the ground for this to be the case. Scaffolding that overhangs the property of a neighbour has been held to be a trespass and the property owner that erected the scaffolding liable in damages. Just as reasonable force may be used to remove a person trespassing, reasonable force may be used to remove a chattel such as a drone.

It's not my fault as owner of the property that I can't pick up the drone myself (because it's in the air and because of the risk of being cut by the rotors) and that I have to use a missile to take it down.

This point has already been litigated in other jurisdictions with similar trespass laws.
http://www.copblock.org/146434/judge-di ... own-drone/

The Met really need to cop themselves on (no pun intended).

Re: Legal to shoot down neighbours drone?

by MPSBatterseaSgt » Thu Apr 28, 2016 6:25 pm

Denwand wrote:Thanks again for all the interesting replies - especially from MPS about "Anti-Drone-Artillery" !!!

One point which may be a legal unknown...what if my husband lets off an air-rifle round and just "wings" the damn thing and it goes out of control straight into the face of my innocent next door neighbour???

I think this may be a case for the Police helicopter! :mrgreen:
That's an excellent question and one that seems quite at home in a police promotion exam!

The air rifle shot itself is ok as long as the pellet stays within the boundary of your property and the shot is not within 15 metres of the centre of a public highway causing upset or inconvenience to people using it.

The striking of the drone itself by an airgun pellet causing it to crash would be criminal damage.

If it goes out of control then I would say that the responsibility would lie with the operator given that they are not supposed to be flown within 50 meters of a person who is not the operator in the first place.

In all seriousness though, please do report any such drone incidents to us. As I've already stated this is a relatively new phenomenon, and we are trying to build up an intelligence picture. You're not wasting our time reporting this to us.

Thanks,

Nathan

Re: Legal to shoot down neighbours drone?

by Denwand » Thu Apr 28, 2016 5:37 pm

Thanks again for all the interesting replies - especially from MPS about "Anti-Drone-Artillery" !!!

One point which may be a legal unknown...what if my husband lets off an air-rifle round and just "wings" the damn thing and it goes out of control straight into the face of my innocent next door neighbour???

I think this may be a case for the Police helicopter! :mrgreen:

Re: Legal to shoot down neighbours drone?

by ExitPursuedByABear » Wed Apr 27, 2016 11:53 pm

I would be very tempted to down it!

Without wishing to sound hysterical, I have a toddler and hate the idea of someone flying one into our own garden where she should be able to play safely.

They're effectively weapons if they go out of control, as this very sad article shows. Who's to say it won't suddenly malfunction?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-he ... r-34936739

Re: Legal to shoot down neighbours drone?

by papinian » Wed Apr 27, 2016 8:01 pm

papinian wrote:
MPSBatterseaSgt wrote:PS It is most certainly not legal to shoot one down!
If a drone is hovering in the middle of my back lawn, 10m above the ground, 2m within the boundary of my property in every direction, what law am I breaking by using an airgun (or bow and arrow) to shoot it down?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Still waiting for an answer to this from plod.

Re: Legal to shoot down neighbours drone?

by papinian » Thu Apr 21, 2016 2:54 pm

MPSBatterseaSgt wrote:PS It is most certainly not legal to shoot one down!
If a drone is hovering in the middle of my back lawn, 10m above the ground, 2m within the boundary of my property in every direction, what law am I breaking by using an airgun (or bow and arrow) to shoot it down?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

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