Man Posed As Police Officer To 'Arrest' Woman In Car Park
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A man posed as police officer in an attempt to arrest a woman alone in a car park in Cumbria.
The 44-year-old had been wearing a blue lanyard with 'police' written on it, and stopped the woman on Tuesday evening at 6.30pm in Barrow.
The man - who has been named as Gary Shepherd - told the lone woman he was arresting her on drugs charges, but fled when the woman alerted a passer-by for help.
He has since pleaded guilty to two offences - impersonating a police officer and common assault - and has been jailed for 22 weeks, fined £85 and ordered to pay costs of £128.
In his initial interview, Shepherd denied being in the area at that time or committing the crime, however upon a second interview - when officers were able to prove he was not being honest - Shepherd said his actions were 'a joke'.
Superintendent for South Cumbria Matt Pearman said of the incident: "To be approached in this way by someone falsely claiming to be a police officer must have been extremely frightening for the victim, particularly coming so soon after the sentencing of Wayne Couzens last week.
"Our officers recognised the seriousness of this incident swiftly and were able to quickly arrest Shepherd, who, less than 48 hours after the initial incident, is now starting a significant prison sentence."
Sarah Everard's murderer Wayne Couzens was sentenced to life in prison for the kidnap, rape and murder after the Met Police officer handcuffed and falsely arrested Sarah as she made her way home - possibly under the premise of breaching lockdown restrictions - and lured her inside his rented car.
Couzens will face a whole-life order for his crime, meaning he will die in prison. He is the first police officer to ever be given this sentence.
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