CLOTHING designed to protect people from stun guns may in fact put them in more danger.

Stun weapons such as the Taser shoot barbed darts into a victim, delivering a series of 50,000-volt electrical pulses. Last week inventor Gregory Schultz of Arizona was granted a patent (US 7284280) on jackets, T-shirts and other garments that incorporate a layer of conductive foil, which dissipates this paralysing charge. Schultz argues that with Tasers now available to the public in the US, police will increasingly come across Taser-equipped criminals and need protective garb.

Steve Wright, an expert on non-lethal weapons at Leeds …