POLICE shot a man with a 50,000 volt stun gun and did not tell the public for more than three months, the Oxford Mail can reveal.

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith has criticised Thames Valley Police for failing to reveal the Taser gun was fired in his constituency in November.

It was the third time a suspect had been shot with the non-lethal weapon in the city, and Oxford police commander Supt Andy Murray said it was unfortunate it was not made public.

The weapon was fired at a home in Cherry Close, Greater Leys on November 12, an incident which only came to light after a Freedom of Information request was made to Thames Valley Police.

A police spokesman said the electric stun gun was used to subdue 24-year-old James Layden, of Windale Avenue, Blackbird Leys.

Layden subsequently admitted affray and possessing crack cocaine and heroin, and will be sentenced at Oxford Crown Court next Friday.

A 59-year-old man also arrested in relation to the incident was released without charge, the spokesman added.

When asked why the public were not told about the incident, the spokesman could not provide a reason.

However after continued questioning from the Oxford Mail, Mr Murray said: “There are some good operational reasons why the press are not informed about every incident the police are involved with.

“In this instance, there was no conscious decision to withhold the information about the incident but nevertheless the press were not briefed.

“I think the use of a Taser is such a rare event that the release of the details is likely to be in the public interest.

“We would normally release this information but it is unfortunate that on this very rare occasion it didn’t happen.”

Mr Smith called for the police to report publicly and promptly on the use of Tasers.

He said: “I have been told it didn’t happen in this case because the Taser was not used in a public place.

“It would have been better if it had been reported, and what’s more I am sure the public would have strongly supported its use in this case, which was to tackle a serious situation where the police dealt with a nasty incident very effectively.”

Taser guns fire needle-tipped barbs capable of delivering an electric shock which temporarily stuns suspects.

Two men aged 29 and 34 were shot with tasers in Oxford in 2005. A 54-year-old man was shot with the weapon in Banbury in 2007.

Thames Valley Police was criticised last year after an Oxford Mail investigation revealed it only told the public about one per cent of all crimes reported to it.

A spokesman said a decision on changing the circumstances when a Taser could be used would be announced in May.

Amnesty International has urged the Government to limit the use of Tasers after claiming 350 people had died in the US.

However the Home Office has said no-one in the UK had been killed or seriously injured and it believed it was a good alternative to using conventional firearms.

ghamilton@oxfordmail.co.uk