Children threatened with tasers 46 times by West Midlands Police

The youngest was a 14-year-old boy who was armed with a hammer.

Of those 46, tasers were fired eight times in total at 10 to 17-year-olds. The West Midlands number was down from 52 in 2013.

In the vast majority of cases ? around 75 per cent ? tasers are drawn from their holster as a deterrent and not actually fired.

That was the case on three occasions in the West Midlands last year when officers came up against 13-year-olds reportedly acting violently.

They included a 999 call-out in Wolverhampton where a boy was threatening to stab people with a knife, whilst officers produced tasers against another 13-year-old in Sandwell last October after he'd thrown a knife at his grandmother and attacked her with a metal crutch.

Police said that while the figures could appear 'shocking, it was important to understand them in context.

Chief Superintendent Stuart Johnson, head of operations, said: "Tasers are not drawn lightly by officers – they are used where there is a risk of violence and provide an additional option to resolve situations that can arise from all sections of the public, including under-18s.

"Our officers have undergone detailed training, including scenario-based events to test judgement, accuracy and the procedural and legislative side of the equipment's use.

"The training has been developed by an experienced group of taser instructors and practitioners and is subject to regular updates and review.

"In many cases, taser has helped resolved incidents without injury; simply drawing or aiming the taser is often enough of a deterrent.

"Taser use is recorded every time it's removed from its holster but our figures show that in three-quarters of cases they're not actually fired.

"All taser deployments are subject of a thorough debrief by a supervising officer to ensure it was appropriate."

For both adults and children, the use of tasers of the force was higher than anywhere in the country for the first six months of 2014.

The guns were fired by regional officers on 120 occasions.

Metropolitan Police fired the guns 114 times, while Greater Manchester Police was the third highest force with officers firing 90 times.

Staffordshire Police, meanwhile, fired 27 times and officers from West Mercia shot them on 16 occasions.