Mosquito 'not sonic assault weapon'

Feb 21 2012

The inventor of the controversial Mosquito device has hit back at claims it is a "sonic assault weapon".

Howard Stapleton insisted the electronic gadgets, which emit high-pitched noise audible only to those under the age of 25, are not weapons.

He wants use of the device to be controlled by regulation, however a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament is calling for them to be banned. Mosquitos are used at various locations, such as around shops, to try to stop groups of teenagers congregating.

Youth Parliament member Andrew Deans has submitted a petition to Holyrood to try to get them outlawed, with MSPs on the Public Petitions Committee considering his plea.

As a concession to MSPs, Mr Stapleton said he would produce larger posters for shops and other properties to display if they use a Mosquito device, and would require customers in Scotland to agree to show these before he sends them their order.

He made the pledge after Mr Deans argued that the device discriminates against young people and urged the Scottish Government to take the issue "very seriously".

Mr Stapleton, managing director of Compound Security Systems, defended the use of the devices. He said he has sold about 7,000 of the devices, which cost £495, worldwide. However, he told MSPs: "I don't want to see my invention being used as a weapon." He added that the Mosquito is "not, in any form, a weapon".

Mr Stapleton continued: "It shouldn't be down to a machine to solve this. It should be down to all of us here. It should be down to parents out there to make sure their kids aren't hanging around street corners swearing and spitting."

But Nationalist MSP Mark McDonald told him: "If you really want to tackle this issue, don't stigmatise and demonise an entire section of society simply on the basis of the actions of a minority within that group.

"That's what being done here. Every person under the age of 25 is effectively stigmatised and demonised by the use of this device, irrespective of whether or not they are law abiding or otherwise, and that to me is wrong. As far as I'm concerned, there is no justification for these devices. It's a sonic assault on young people."