Electric shock weapons such as tasers, do have ‘added value’ for the police, according to a report on the year-long trial by the police academy.

Since the start of the trail in February 2017, tasers have been drawn 343 times and in 62% of cases, the threat of use was enough to calm the situation down, the report states.

‘The most important effect of the electric shock weapon is the threat it presents to the suspect and the extra confidence that gives to the police officer, ‘ said Willem Woelders, who is in charge of the trial.

The police will decide at the end of this year whether tasers should be more widely used or not.

In February Amnesty International called for trial to be abandoned after it emerged that the devices had actually been used on suspects more than 100 times.

Tasers work by firing electric charges of around 50,000 volts at a suspect from a distance, temporarily disabling them.

Police say the danger of serious or permanent injury is minimal, but experts disagree on the risk to the heart.

Stun drive

Amnesty said in February that 54 of the 119 cases where the electric charge was used, the officer pressed the taser against the suspect’s body, which gives them a painful electric shock but does not disable them.

The new figures state that tasers were applied directly to the body in the stun drive mode 75 times. While the aim is to control the suspect, the effect ‘would appear to be limited and controversial,’ the report said. In some cases, the taser was used for more than 15 seconds on the victim.

The youngest person to have a taser used on them during the experiment was a ‘strong, large’ 13-year-old boy, who was said to be a confused state and waving a knife in his home.