UK police taser blind man after mistaking stick for sword

LONDON (AFP) - British police apologised on Wednesday after a blind man was tasered by an officer who mistook his white stick for a samurai sword.

The incident happened in the market town of Chorley in Lancashire, north-west England on Friday after police received reports of a man walking through the town carrying a sword.

One policeman thought he had tracked down the offender and asked the blind man to stop. When he failed to do so, the officer stunned him with his Taser gun.

On realising the mistake, officers rushed the victim to a hospital where he was discharged after a check-up.