In the incident which led to the teenager's conviction, a green beam was shone at the aircraft which was about 2, 000ft (610m) over a populated area of Torquay while it was searching for a missing person.

BBC: Laser warning after teenager guilty of 'dazzling' pilot

Later that evening the police helicopter also had a laser beam shone on it, when it was sent to investigate the earlier incident.

BBC: Youth sentenced over passenger plane laser pen incident

Initial investigations from structural engineer Arup revealed that one of the two bolts holding the beam that swung loose was missing, while the other was fractured during the incident 10 days ago.

BBC: The Holyrood beam problem is still being investigated