A solicitor who impersonated a Cheshire Police officer to secure CCTV footage of a woman known to him at a Nando’s restaurant in Warrington, has been sentenced.
Connor Johnstone appeared at Leeds Magistrates’ Court today, Monday 3 August, where he was handed a 12-month Community Order.
Johnstone, of Broad Lane, Altrincham, was also ordered to pay £650 in court costs, a £114 surcharge and must complete 260 hours of supervised unpaid work.
The sentencing follows a one-day trial at the same court, where the 34-year-old was found guilty of one count of impersonating a police officer.
The case began on 22 July 2025, when staff members at a Nando’s restaurant in Stockton Heath, Warrington received a phone call from a man who identified himself as Police Constable Matthew Gregory from Cheshire Police’s Domestic Violence Unit.
Gregory told staff that he had been investigating an incident between two parties, a man and a woman, who had attended the Nando’s restaurant on 21 July. He went on to say that, as part of the investigation, CCTV footage of the two people involved was needed, and he went on to provide descriptions of them.
During the phone call, Gregory was asked to sign a CCTV footage release form, and he provided the staff member with what appeared to be a Cheshire Police email address. Once this was done, Gregory asked for an urgent response and that the footage be sent over to him as soon as possible.
On 25 July, a second staff member reviewed the footage and attempted to email PC Gregory back to confirm that the two people he was looking to identify were present in the restaurant.
However, the emails she had sent to him were not being delivered. After several attempts to contact him, the staff member decided to call Cheshire Police on 101. Yet, when she explained that had been trying to get in contact with Police Constable Matthew Gregory, the staff member was informed that no such officer worked within Cheshire Constabulary.
Officers then began to look into who PC Gregory could possibly be.
They identified that the email address that had been used to contact the staff at Nando’s was not an official Cheshire Police domain, but rather it had been purchased on a temporary basis by a Connor Johnstone, a solicitor.
On the site used to purchase the email domain, Johnstone had entered his date of birth, phone number and address, leading officers straight to him.
Voluntarily attending for a police interview, Johnstone exercised his right to remain silent and refused to answer all questions put to him.
It was later uncovered that the one of the people Johnstone was looking to identify under his fake persona was known to him.
Detective Constable Darroch, of the Protecting Vulnerable People Unit, said: “You do not have to be a solicitor to know that impersonating a police officer is a very serious offence, so Connor Johnstone will have been well aware that his actions were illegal.
“Under the guise of this persona, and armed with a false email that would have looked legitimate to the uninitiated, Johnstone took advantage of two employees who were simply looking to assist with what they thought was an official police investigation.
“Johnstone clearly counted his own chickens before they hatched, as his decision to play pretend police officer has ultimately resulted him in causing permanent damage to his own reputation.
“If you are contacted or approached by anyone you believe is pretending to be a police officer, I would strongly urge you to contact Cheshire Police. Genuine officers will always be happy to verify their identity. If you are unsure, you can ask to see a warrant card and, if necessary, call 101 to confirm an officer’s details.”
