Pop manager 'made bomb threats'

Phillip Byrne is an ex-road manager for All Saints

A former tour manager of chart toppers All Saints and E17 told a jury on Wednesday that he could not explain why he made a string of bomb threats.

London's Southwark Crown Court heard that Phillip Byrne left a trail of panic as he delivered bomb threats after walking into several central London stores and saying he was from the Real IRA.

Hundreds of staff and shoppers were evacuated as a result.

But 43-year-old Byrne said he could hardly remember being in Piccadilly on that particular evening.

"I was out of it," he told the court, adding it was possible his drinks "may have been spiked" at the Mobo Awards Ceremony the previous evening.

Byrne, of Bishops Briggs, Glasgow, denies three offences of communicating false information on 5 October last year.

Paul Cavin, prosecuting, said the defendant delivered his first bomb warning to staff at a ladies clothes shop before moving on to a restaurant and finally Waterstone's bookshop.

"He did not tell any of the staff he was a member of the IRA, because, of course, the IRA at that time and now were observing the ceasefire under the Good Friday Agreement. So the use of the term the Real IRA was significant," he said.

The court heard that Byrne was caught by security staff who followed him from the bookshop and flagged down a police car.

In evidence Byrne said he was "shocked" when he learned what he had done.

The trial continues.