At 11.30pm on Friday 1 March 2013 police were alerted to a sighting of a red flare over the Stanley area. With the assistance of members of the public, police attended an address in Stanley and spoke with a 30 year old male from Stanley.

The male admitted to setting off the flare from his residence and was not in any distress. The male will appear in court on 1 charge of Unlawfully Discharging a Distress Flare. The fine for this charge can be as much as $3900.

Police are concerned that the unlawful setting of distress flares can result in a large scale search being conducted at a significant cost and putting searchers at risk for an unwarranted discharge of flares.