Fantasist cop had 18 inch baton in boot of car

Kelvin Swann (53) of St Andrews was caught after being tipped off by one of his colleagues about the spring-loaded baton in his car, similar to those carried by police.

Swann was previously convicted of masquerading as a police officer when he pulled a woman over in St Andrews as she drove her 12-year-old daughter to school.

He pulled up alongside her car and accused her of committing five separate crimes in the space of minutes before pretending to call the station for backup.

In the new incident Swann was detained when a series of police vehicle swooped on him near the Tay Road Bridge in Dundee.

Fiscal depute Sue Ruta told Dundee Sheriff Court: “The matter came to light when officers received intelligence that the accused would be travelling over the Tay Road Bridge in a Vauxhall Corsa van containing an extendable baton and potentially a canister of spray.

“Due to that information police took up a marked vantage point at the bridge entrance on the Fife side at about 1.20pm.

“The accused was spotted travelling northwards.

“He was followed by police officers and was stopped at the Apex Hotel by four police officers who advised him of the reason he had been stopped.

“He openly admitted that he was in possession of an extendable baton in the rear of his vehicle.

“An 18-inch spring-loaded baton was concealed in the boot.

“The accused was arrested by officers and taken into police custody and charged.

“The accused made no reply.”

The court was told Swann, a former RAF airman, had shown the baton to a colleague and had it in his car for a couple of days.

Swann pleaded guilty to a charge of poessessing an offensive weapon on August 12.

Sheriff Lorna Drummond QC deferred sentence until next month for social work background reports and said Swann had a “serious record”.

In his earlier case Swann admitted a charge of impersonating a police officer on November 15, 2012.

In that incident he pulled up alongside a woman and accused her of pulling into the side of the road suddenly without braking then making an obscene gesture at him.

When they got out of their cars to discuss the incident on the pavement the woman put her hand on his forearm to calm him down as he “angrily” ranted at her.

Swann accused her of assaulting a police officer and when she got into her car to drive to St Andrews police station, Swann then accused her of leaving the scene of a crime and resisting arrest.

But when real police officers caught up with Swann he said: “How could I be a policeman? I’m five foot one.”