RUSTA - safety and danger.

Today I have passed my practical assessment for Permission for Commercial Operations (well dones below - thank you kindly) with the CAA. On the same day that the news breaks of another near miss in London, near the Shard. This is a very worrying story for those of us planning to make a living from drone life. London has it's own set of guidelines for commercial operations, specifically because of the dangers and frequency of low flying aircraft.
Obviously the need for aerial imaging in London is crucial, only this week, on the apprentice we've seen beautiful shots of the Shard.

The reports state, however, that the aircraft was flying at around 4,900 feet, which is where the story gets interesting. There is no way that this was a legal or commercial operation. This was a hobbyist, or an idiot as some people call them. Flying above the 400 ft limit is illegal in the middle of nowhere without a specific safety case approval from the CAA, and only in controlled airspace as specified. If the local ATC didn't know about this, then they can't warn the pilots, and if they can't warn the pilots, what do you know, things like this happen, or worse.
I have over 120 flights under my belt, over 12 hours flying, and today was put under intense scrutiny in the safety of an open field, and let me be totally honest, when the crunch came, (an emergency drill, within Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) I almost lost it. Only by staying calm and regaining my composure did I avoid a collision. Drone's aren't easy things to fly. Just look on youtube for drone fails for hours of entertaining video of the drone population decreasing. Beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) is a whole new ball game at 4900 feet, the drone is going to take a long time to descend, Vortex ring state may become an issue if descending vertically, and quickly. This is just mindless behaviour and the penalties ought to be severe. I'm in favour of a national database of Drones,  a zero tolerance and effective method of grounding Quadcopters being flown recklessly and hefty prison sentences for clear breaches of CAA guidelines. Before it's too late.