Robert Byrne 56

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A Wirral man has been jailed today, Tuesday 5 December, for kidnapping and breaching an order.

Robert Byrne, 56 years, of Fountain Street, Birkenhead was sentenced to five years and four months in prison with five years on extended licence after he pleaded guilty at Liverpool Crown Court.

He was also issued with an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order with three further conditions added.

A deprivation order has been issued in relation to clothing and radio seized by Merseyside Police.

The court heard that in February a 13-year-old boy was upset and had entered a Liverpool city centre shop in the early of hours of the morning, asking the shopkeeper to contact police as he was reported missing.

While reporting it to police via phone the shopkeeper saw Byrne walk past the shop and asked for his assistance, as Byrne had previously identified himself as an undercover police officer.

Wearing clothes similar to a police uniform, Byrne took the teenage victim to a nearby fast-food place where police officers tracked him down and arrested him.

Police took the young victim safely home.

After Byrne’s arrest, several items consistent with a police uniform were seized.

The investigation was led by Detective Inspector Victoria Tinsley from the Sex Offender Unit who ensure that sex offenders living in the community are closely monitored.

She said: “This was very disturbing incident where Byrne preyed up on the young victim’s circumstances of being vulnerable and upset.

“What was also alarming was that Byrne had previously told retailers that he was a police officer working undercover. This showed the lengths his predatory behaviour would go to in order to win the trust members of the public by impersonating a police officer. 

“Thankfully genuine police officers quickly tracked Byrne down, and the young victim was taken safely home before any potential harm came to him.