Rotorua man stole dead baby's identity

A Rotorua man stole the identity of a dead Rotorua baby to create a false passport so he could get into the United Kingdom.

The Rotorua District Court was told yesterday he did it so he could visit his girlfriend in the UK and Ireland after being denied access on his own passport.

Christopher Mark Grose, 36, labourer, appeared for sentencing after previously admitting charges of possessing a false New Zealand passport and forgery.

The name of the baby boy he used on his fake passport has been suppressed to protect the family.

The maximum penalty for possessing a false New Zealand passport is 10 years' jail.

Judge James Weir has put sentencing off until Tuesday to see if Grose can pay $10,000 reparation to the family of the baby whose name he used.

In November 1997, the Department of Internal Affairs received an application for a passport in the name of a baby who was born and died on the same day in the early 1970s, according to a summary of facts. Included with Grose's application was a birth certificate in the name of the baby and a passport was issued to him.

He used it to obtain a tax number, bank accounts and set up various securities. Between 1998 and 2001 he used the passport for eight flights between New Zealand and Sydney, Brisbane, Fiji and Korea.

The court was told Grose only used the forged passport on various legs of his trips.

The fraud was picked up during an audit by the department and in June last year police found the false passport at Grose's home.

He admitted what he had done, saying he wanted to work overseas, had been denied access to the UK on his own passport.

"In cases like these there is considerable feelings of hurt to the family of the deceased knowing their relative's identity has been abused in this way," the summary said.

Rotorua Crown Solicitor Fletcher Pilditch, who appeared on behalf of the department, said the sentence needed to be one which deterred others, given the importance of maintaining the integrity of the New Zealand passport system. A prison term of between eight and 18 months was appropriate, he said.

Grose's lawyer Bill Lawson said this case was not the most serious of its kind and a community-based sentence could be imposed. He said Grose pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

"This was a naive young man with some fantasies of getting away with some things because of a book he read in the past. He was not thinking of the consequences."

He was remorseful and had offered to meet with the family of the deceased but they had not wanted to take part.

At the time Grose was travelling overseas he owned a successful business which had since "come into bad times" and he now had significant debt. However, he was able to borrow money from his family to pay any reparation.

The family of the deceased want any reparation to be paid to the Child Cancer Foundation.

- DAILY POST (Rotorua)