KENT Police chiefs have taken the unusual step of releasing a photograph of a mystery man who is now awaiting sentence after assuming a false identity – that of a nine-month-old baby who died in 1963.

The man, who calls himself Christopher Edward Buckingham, has been remanded in custody until November 8 while pre-sentence reports are prepared after he admitted assuming a false identity for the past 23 years.

Buckingham pleaded guilty to making an untrue statement to obtain a passport at the hearing at Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday 11 October.

When UK immigration officers checked his passport at Calais in January they discovered it was a document obtained by deception. Buckingham was allowed to board a ferry to Dover but arrangements were made for him to be arrested by police when he arrived at the port.

He claimed when interviewed by Kent Police officers that he was Lord Buckingham, a title he had inherited on his father’s death in 1982. Among his possessions was a letterhead bearing the Buckingham coat of arms.

Enquiries with the Royal College of Arms revealed that the coat of arms do represent the Buckingham family, but have not been used since the early 1700s and no-one is currently registered to use them as their own.

Further checks showed that the man had assumed the identity of a child who was born in 1962, but who died aged just nine months the following year.

Police also discovered that he was an information technology security consultant who had worked for a large Swiss company and had been living in Switzerland.

Det Con Dave Sprigg, the officer in charge of the case, said: “This man flatly refuses to reveal his identity to us and he has been warned by the judge sitting at Canterbury Crown Court that he may be in contempt for failing to say who he really is. If anyone recognises him from the photograph, we would very much like to hear from them.”

Anyone with any information about the true identity of the man should contact Kent Police on 01304 668270.