Pop manager Phillip Byrne walked free from court t

Pop manager Phillip Byrne walked free from court today without a scratch on his record after being cleared of sparking three bomb alerts within minutes.

The 43-year-old and his wife Ruth wept tears of relief as the jury returned not guilty verdicts following a four day trial over an incident that ‘shattered’ their lives.

The former tour manager of hit girl band All Saints, manager of award winning E17, who also helped handle the affairs of singer Toni Braxton, said the verdicts ended a 13-month ‘nightmare’.

He said all he wanted to do was rebuild his family life and career after the ‘catastrophe’ of October last year.

At London’s Southwark Crown Court, Byrne, of Sinclair Gardens, Bishops Briggs, Glasgow, was found not guilty of three offences of communicating false information on October 5, last year, all around 8pm in the evening.

Byrne visited three shops in Piccadilly – the ladies clothes shop Oasis; the restaurant Ponti’s, and the flagship Waterstones bookshop to tell staff there was a bomb inside – claiming he was from the dissident terrorist group the Real IRA.

Worst effected was the bookshop – police advising staff to evacuate up to 300 customers as a precaution.

Dublin-born Byrne, who grer up in North London, was said to have put on a convincing Irish accent to give a 15 minute warning – assuring staff it was a break with normal procedure, and they would receive a telephone call.

Within 24 hours, the ‘shamed’ defendant went from enjoying the champagne luxury of the prestigious MOBO music award ceremony to sitting shell-shocked an ‘glazed eyed’ in a police cell.

Although he accepted he had sparked the chaos by his actions, he said he simply ‘could not remember’ events.

Byrne maintained he simply had ‘no recollection’ of vital hours before he walked into the stores after drinking with friends.

He said he was ’embarrassed’ by his actions, so when friends joked ‘you idiot’, he was forced to tell them: ‘Actually I am in a lot of trouble.

‘

After a few hours sleep following the glamorous award ceremony he had a business meeting in a Soho coffee bar with a singer he hoped to represent and advise on
recording, song writing, touring.

With another friend they had gone to a bar to listen to her songs, and started drinking.

‘I had three or four pints.

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possibly more,’ he said, saying such a quantity had never had such a mysterious impact before.

He told the court: ‘I am a happy drinker, I sing when I’m drunk, I couldn’t explain it.

‘

He said one explanation for the missing hours when he is said to have caused havoc was that his drink was ‘spiked’ and he could not even remember in which bar the friends were drinking.

‘I had a slight hangover that morning.

I felt very happy, but not great physically,’ he said.

‘I was incredibly happy that day.

I was in great form, we had a great meeting.

‘

He said he was aware he had to ‘get my skates on’ to get to Liverpool Street Station to catch a train to Stansted Airport for his flight home to Glasgow, but ‘time slipped by.

‘

Asked if he had traced the bar himself since in a bid to try and reconstruct what happened, he said he was advised not to.

A quick thinking manager at Waterstones instructed security staff at Waterstones to follow the stranger from the store.

They detained him at Piccadilly Circus and waved down a passing police car.

Mr Bartholomew O’Toole, prosecuting, said the defendant was arrested for making a bomb hoax – prompting an instant denial.

‘The Crown say that is untrue.

It was clearly made by him.

‘The question is, did he make the threat and induce others to think it was genuine.

‘The Crown accept it was an impromptu act but that does not make it any less of a serious crime.

‘

He said a ‘drunken’ intent remained in law, an intent.

A Celtic supporter, Byrne denied he was a heavy drinker or an alcoholic.

He said he was a social drinker, normally sinking a couple of pints on a Friday night and after football.

Knowing he had to get home to see his family, he said he had not intended to drink that afternoon following a ‘heavy night’ but his friends bought him a drink w
hile he was in the toilet, and they continued drinking.

He said despite his best efforts he remembered only ‘snippets’ until he found himself in a police station.

‘I was in total shock and turmoil.

I couldn’t believe where I was, I was crying and in a state.

‘

And he told the jury: ‘If I could remember, I would not be here, there is no way I would put myself through something like this, no way.

‘If I had known what I was doing it would not have happened – because I would not have done it.

The truth is I cannot remember what happened.

‘

Simon Pentol, defending, said his client could not remember the incident and clearly ‘never intended’ he would be taken seriously.

He said one answer was the drinks were ‘spiked’ accounting for ‘the change in personality.

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And Byrne’s wife told the court she was ‘not pleased at all’ when he rang to say he had missed the shuttle from Stansted home to Glasgow – a ‘phone call the defendant did not remember making.

She said he sounded ‘really drunk’ and ‘belligerent.

‘

‘He is not normally like that,’ she said.

Definitely not.

He is normally happy and upbeat and talkative.

‘

And she said Byrne rang again to invite her to London.

‘That was out of character.

He knows I like to be organised, his suggestion was completely ridiculous.

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who would look after our son?’
ends