Scottish pervert targeted actors in Harry Potter play in London
A SCOTTISH sex offender and conman impersonated a police officer and tried to get personal details of actors in a London West End show, a court has heard.
Reece Scobie dressed as a police officer in order to get close to actors in the play
Reece Scobie dressed in full uniform, including body armour, and carried handcuffs, to get backstage.
Then he asked for the details of two of the stars performing in Harry Potter and The Cursed Child.
But Scobie, 23, was arrested shortly after when doubts were raised about his true identity by staff at the Palace Theatre in Soho.
Scobie wore full police uniform and carried handcuffs
Yesterday, at Westminster Magistrates' Court, he admitted impersonating a police officer and wearing a police uniform with intent to deceive.
He also admitted breaching the requirements of the Sex Offenders' Register.
Scobie had booked a two-week stay at a hotel in the heart of London's Theatreland.
Scobie admitted impersonating an officer yesterday at Westminster Magistrates Court
Darren Watts, prosecuting, said: "The concern is the fact that he quite deliberately and fraudulently posed as a police officer to go to a London play.
He quite deliberately and fraudulently posed as a police officer
"He attended at the show purporting to be a police officer needing to speak to the two stars.
"He was then ushered backstage and said that there were individuals who wanted them. He proceeded to request various personal details, including their mobile phone numbers, email addresses and home addresses."
Scobie breached a sexual offences prevention order by failing to notify police of a change of address and using a bank account not registered with the police.
Alison Sudol on Harry Potter
Mr Watts added: "Using that bank account, he has obviously booked these hotel rooms and he also used that bank account to book tickets to the show every night for 14 nights."
Scobie has been likened to the character played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the hit movie Catch Me If You Can, who impersonated airline pilots to fly around the world for free.
Scobie, who is from Perth, was jailed for a global travel con in 2014. He fleeced travel agents out of more than £70,000, booking flights and staying in hotels used by A-list celebrities.
Scobie, who has Asperger's Syndrome, was jailed for 12 months in Iceland last February for fraud and possessing thousands of indecent images of children.
He was arrested when his New York flight, which he had paid for with a fake credit card, touched down for a refuelling stop in Reykjavik. Yesterday, Scobie was jailed for a total of eight months for the offences committed at the London theatre.