A MUM whose son was jailed for five months for flashing a green laser at a police helicopter 10 times has told the Welwyn Hatfield Times of her anguish.

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Ross Millson, a 20-year-old DJ from Peartree Lane, WGC, was sentenced at St Albans Crown Court last week after temporarily blinding a pilot en route to a separate incident in the early hours of August 1 last year.

His mother Jan is now calling for a ban on the lasers, and has since said although she knew Ross – who was drunk at the time – was in the wrong, she believed the sentence was too harsh.

She said: “What my son did was a terrible act that brought real danger to the people flying that aircraft.

“Since he was arrested I have discovered this type of offence is on the increase.

“My concern, however, is there appears to be a huge inconsistency in the way the Crown Prosecution Service handles these cases.

“Two days after Ross was arrested (in August 2009) another young man of the same age, but living in Oxford, was arrested for the same offence.

“In his case he was given a sentence of 200 hours’ community service by magistrates. Other cases have resulted in people receiving lesser sentences than my son at either the magistrates’ court or crown court.

“Why is this allowed to happen?

“Is the criminal justice system based upon a postcode lottery?” the 59-year-old said.

“He did not think about the consequences of his actions. Had he been intent on bringing down an aircraft through an act of terror while located at an airport then I would feel differently.”

The mum-of-four thinks a community service would have been of “better use” not only for Ross, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but also for the area.

Jan, from Kelbys, added she felt his disorder should have been looked at more carefully and criticised the circuit judge – Mr Justice Cook – for “flicking through the paperwork”, as well as handing only a suspended jail sentence on the same day to a man with 2,000 child images on his PC.

The ruling left Jan and her family “shocked” and “devastated”.

“I am devastated at seeing my eldest son in prison,” she added.

“I don’t think anyone can quite believe it.

“It’s been really hard, but we’ve had to get on with it.”

A spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said with the sufficient evidence provided, the jailing on February 5 was in the public’s interest due to “the potential consequences” of Ross’ actions

She added: “It is the role of the judge to decide the appropriate sentence for an offence.

“Having considered the details provided by CPS, together with information provided by Mr Millson’s solicitor about the circumstances in which he committed the offence, Mr Justice Cooke sentenced him in accordance with relevant guidelines.”