Actor boarded a coach and impersonated a police officer in ‘bizarre stunt’ on A82
Sheriff slams ‘sinister’ actions of River City actor
An actor obsessed with pretending to be a police officer was accused of “sinister and malevolent” behaviour as he was sentenced for using a car kitted out as a police vehicle and posing as an officer during a traffic jam.
David Friel, who has played policemen in a number of television productions including Waterloo Road and River City, has previous convictions for pretending to be an officer and intercepting police radio messages.
Friel appeared at Dumbarton Sheriff Court yesterday after pleading guilty to a bizarre stunt in which he used a car kitted out with blue flashing lights to approach a tour coach on a narrow stretch of the A82 near Inveruglas on Loch Lomond.
Dressed in dark clothes, he got out of the car and boarded the coach.
Friel, from Clydebank, started speaking to the driver, giving the impression he was a police officer.
However, his real identity was uncovered as the driver recognised him and knew he was not a police officer.
The driver then called the police to report the incident.
Friel, who has also previously appeared as an officer in a Police Scotland advert, was charged with breaking Section 92(1)(b) of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012.
Friel, 37, claimed in court the blue flashing lights were on his car for his previous River City role.
He claimed he had red flashing lights on the rear of the car because he was a member of the Trossachs Search and Rescue Team. But Friel admitted activating the blue flashing lights on his black Vauxhall Astra and “acting in manner calculated to suggest he was a police constable”.
Sentence was deferred for background reports, but the court heard yesterday that a psychiatric assessment raised no problems about his mental health.
Sheriff John Hamilton referred to Friel’s previous conviction for impersonating a police officer. He said: “To do it once is bizarre. To do it twice is intentionally sinister. It is extremely odd and potentially quite worrying.”
Friel was also criticised for undermining the public’s faith in the emergency services.
The sheriff said: “Your behaviour on the day in question was extremely concerning and very inappropriate.
“The public have trust in the emergency services. Your behaviour brought that trust in to doubt.
“You have brought embarrassment on the Trossachs Mountain Rescue Service through no fault of theirs, and that was all your fault – you and your strange behaviour.
“I’m not completely satisfied you understand the severity of what you were doing.
“Your behaviour was described by various witnesses as being bizarre and there was a malevolent aspect to it as well in that you undertook it.
“There must have been some strange thoughts going through your head at that time.”
Defence lawyer Ian Mccarthy, representing Friel, said he was willing and able to comply with a year-long community payback order (CPO).
He will be supervised by social workers and has been ordered to complete 200 hours unpaid work over the next nine months.
Friel was warned by the sheriff he could be jailed if he breaches the CPO.
The actos has also appeared as an officer alongside Doctor Who lead Jodie Whittaker in BBC medical thriller Trust Me.
“To do it once is bizarre. To do it twice is intentionally sinister. It is extremely odd and potentially quite worrying” SHERIFF JOHN HAMILTON Dunbarton Sheriff Court