The Phnom Penh Municipal Court heard the case yesterday of a former security guard for HNK Company and a friend who were charged with impersonating an officer of the law.

Touch Ravuth, 32, and his co-defendant Sroeng Sopheap, 25, were pulled over in the early hours of January 4 in Sen Sok district. Ravuth was wearing a national police uniform with a plastic pistol tucked into his waistband, said district Police Chief Mak Hong. Another passenger on the moto escaped.

Ravuth said he was only dressed as a policeman because he was attending a birthday party, and asked the court for a reduced sentence. Sopheap asked that all charges be dropped as he wasn’t wearing a uniform at all and was only catching a ride back from the party.

Police searched Ravuth’s rental home in Teuk Thla commune a day after the arrests and claimed to have found knives, a pair of military shoes and other similar clothing. A verdict is due on June 4.