Fantasist posed as policeman to subject Travelodge staff and guests to six-hour ordeal in which he handcuffed man to lift and made receptionist bend over desk

  • Miley Byrne, 25, stormed into Travelodge hotel carrying warrant card
  • Claimed to be military police officer protecting daughter of US ambassador

By Anthony Bond

Published: | Updated:


Sick: Fantasist Miley Byrne, 25, posed as a policeman, handcuffed a hotel guest to a lift then offered the receptionist £50 to remove her knickers

Bizarre: Fantasist Miley Byrne, 25, posed as a policeman, handcuffed a hotel guest to a lift then offered the receptionist £50 to remove her knickers

A fantasist who posed as a policeman stormed into a hotel and spent six hours terrorising staff and guests.

Miley Byrne, 25, handcuffed a hotel guest to a lift and then offered the receptionist £50 to remove her knickers during the bizarre ordeal at a Travelodge in Chelmsford, Essex.

Chelmsford Magistrates Court heard how Byrne stormed into the building carrying a police officer's warrant card to play out his twisted fantasy.

The fraudster claimed to be a military police officer sent to protect the 15-year-old daughter of a US ambassador.

Once inside, he handcuffed a customer to the inside of a hotel lift and placed a male member of staff in a sleeper hold on the floor.

He then made a hotel receptionist bend over a desk, spread her legs and told her: 'I'll give you £50 if you take off your knickers.'

Byrne pleaded guilty to two counts of assault, one count of impersonating a police constable and a further charge of possessing an article of police uniform, namely a warrant card.

The former hotel worker claimed to be acting out 'life through a fantasy' and argued his actions were completely spontaneous - despite witnesses reporting him wearing a full uniform, including an earpiece and handcuffs, on the day of the incident.

Byrne was handed a community order and was sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work when he appeared in the dock at Chelmsford Magistrates Court.

Odd: Byrne stormed into a Travelodge in Chelmsford, Essex, pictured

Odd: Byrne stormed into a Travelodge in Chelmsford, Essex, pictured

Chairman of the magistrates, Brian King, told him: 'You may like to live this way and think it's exciting.

'Your victims do not.'

The hotel hold-up on February 28 this year was not the first time the fraudster, from Braintree, Essex, has pretended to be a policeman.

In 2009, Byrne admitted impersonating a police officer after fixing a blue flashing light to his Citroen Saxo in a bid to overtake traffic on the outskirts on Colchester, Essex.




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