Banker rode a motorbike dressed as a police officer to beat rush hour traffic
A CITY banker has been found guilty of impersonating a police officer in a bid to speed through rush hour traffic jams.
Darren Emanuel, 46, was caught riding a BMW 1200 former police motorcycle, complete with extended rear blue light, down Park Lane in London.
The financial consultant was wearing a second-hand police uniform underneath a high-visibility vest with the word ‘POLITE’ written on it.
The motorcycle had a Royal Corps of Transport crest on the windscreen, an ‘ER’ royal cypher below the rear number plate, and black and white stickers along either side.
A genuine police officer pulled him over because he was particularly concerned about the blue light, which turned out to be broken, magistrates heard.
The Metropolitan Police was also on high alert as it was just days after the London Bridge terrorist attack.
Emanuel, who is self-employed, said he had covered thousands of miles on the bike commuting from his home in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire.
He was convicted of one count of wearing a police uniform with intent to deceive following a three-hour trial. The businessman was given a 12-month conditional discharge, and ordered to pay £670 in costs and charges.
The case is the latest evidence of the extreme lengths commuters are willing to go to escape congested roads. Scores of cyclists have taken to wearing the ‘POLITE’ police-style yellow vests, with ‘notice: think bike’ underneath.
Hendon magistrates’ court heard the banker was pulled over on June 23 last year as he rode home from work. Traffic officer PC John Harding said his attention was grabbed by the blue light but that the ‘whole bike’ gave the impression the rider was a police officer. He added: ‘He is trying to deceive members of the public…I think a person with a reasonable purpose looking in their rear view mirror would think that is an emergency service vehicle or a police motorcycle coming towards them.
‘We police by consent … we have a good relationship with the public in London and they facilitate our passage through the high traffic, knowing we are working and trying to keep London safe.’
The court heard Emanuel was wearing an old police jacket, from which three stripes had been removed, under a high-visibility vest. When PC Harding asked him what he was doing, Emanuel replied: ‘You know how it is. I want to be safe driving in London.’
He told the officer he had a law degree and was a banker and had consulted with a ‘friend’ at a police training base who said he was on ‘the right side of the law’.
PC Harding said Emanuel could have been putting himself in danger as criminals on mopeds have targeted police bikes. He added: ‘I myself have been kicked off my motorcycle trying to apprehend one of them.’
Emanuel told the court he bought the bike from a man in Cardiff after finding it on eBay. He said the seller was a former policeman who had been riding it for several years with ‘no issues’ and that he was given the ‘POLITE’ jacket for free.
He said: ‘I have commuted over 1,000 miles on that bike and must have gone past countless traffic police officers in that time and none of them had any issue with me.’
But magistrate Grant McCrostie said the public ‘would be deceived into believing that you were a police officer…it is really important the public have confidence in the police. Your actions undermined that.’