Burglar wants end to name confusion too

Convicted burglar Shane William Pritchard says he is sick of being confused with a law-abiding Mosgiel man who shares his name.

The heavily tattooed Mr Pritchard, formerly of Milton and now of Auckland, blamed the police for his highly public identity crisis, which he said should have been cleared up 18 years ago.

Mr Pritchard says he wants to "restore" his life after spending 11 1/2 years, on-and-off, in prison, but that continuing police "muck-ups" were getting in the way.

Yesterday, Mr Pritchard admitted he had used the other Mr Pritchard's date of birth when his car was pulled over by police.

But the man who wanted to "grow up and get away from ... 14 pages of convictions" still saw "no excuse for them to get us confused".

"Ages ago, a couple of times, I told them the other date of birth just to get away, 'cos when you're known to the police like me, they nag.

"But look at me. I've got tattoos all over me, and I'm missing part of my finger, and they still get things wrong, even when I give them my proper date of birth."

Mr Pritchard was born in Milton on January 8, 1971, 23 days before the other Mr Pritchard was born in Mosgiel Hospital.

The men have never met, but their lives have been intertwined since 1987, when the Mosgiel man's benefit was stopped when the Milton man was sent to prison.

Then, in 1992, Mr Pritchard, "through no fault of my own", cleared $9000 from the Mosgiel man's bank account after bank staff gave him access to the wrong account.

The beneficiary was not surprised the account "was bigger than just my benefit" because he thought it included an ACC payment for a finger he lost in a fight.

Police later "decided it was not my mistake, because I gave the bank staff all the details I could, and I couldn't take the blame for them getting into the wrong account".

Police knew there were two Shane Pritchards, but the law-abiding Mosgiel one has since been accused of burglaries and traffic offences linked to his Milton namesake.

The Mosgiel man went public last month after he learned he could lose his licence for offences in Auckland he never committed.

The Mr Pritchard now living in Auckland said he had been in prison too long to amass about $20,000 in fines and hire-purchase agreements passed to his namesake.

The police have put a "tag" on both men on their computer system in a bid to overcome the problem.

- NZPA