'Shotgun marriage' denied

STAFF from the Taser firm stripped of its licence after its weapons were used in the stand-off with gunman Raoul Moat will be working for the new company set up as its sole replacement in the UK, Home Office officials said yesterday.

Pro-Tect Systems will be replaced by start-up firm Tactical Safety Responses, which is based in the same area and will use some of the same staff as its Northampton-based predecessor.

But Graham Widdecombe, of the Home Office, denied suggestions by MPs at the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee that it was a "shotgun marriage" to get a firm in place very quickly in an effort to avoid a shortage of Taser weapons and cartridges.

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