A CIVILIAN police worker used a bullet-proof vest to make teenage girls think he was a real police officer, a court heard.

Mark Walton, aged 19, is alleged to have shown the protective vest to three girls he later kidnapped to persuade them he was a police officer.

He threatened to arrest them unless they took him to the home of a 13-year-old friend in whom he had developed a "sexual interest".

Community support worker Walton claims he bought the vest for protection on the streets and was given permission by his bosses to wear it.

Walton, of Greencourt Drive, Little Hulton, denies three charges of kidnapping and one charge of impersonating a police officer in May 2003.

Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard that he did not have the powers of a police officer and dealt with minor matters such as dog fouling.

But he was said to have produced the vest and play-acted into a two-way radio saying "Roger" and "Over" to convince the youngsters he was a police officer.

Having allegedly been told to take off the vest by bosses, he said he was later given permission to wear it because he felt threatened after a confrontation in a street.

Proceeding