The use of Taser stun guns by police forces in England and Wales reached a record high last year, new figures show.
The weapons were fired on 2,500 occasions between April 1 2018 and March 31 2019, which is thought to be the highest number recorded.
In most cases, the devices were aimed at a suspect without being fired.
The deployment figure is up by more than a third on the year to March 2018 and double the 2016 total.
The weapons – also known as Conductive Energy Devices (CED) – were first trialled in UK police forces in 2003, and a roll-out to all forces was completed in 2013.
