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A man who faked his own death and lived under a new identity for more than five years risked detection by going to big televised rugby matches, and even returning to the city where he disappeared.
Aucklander Bruce James Dale, 43, abandoned his car at Port Waikato in
2002 before travelling south to Christchurch and starting a new life under the name Michael Francis Peach.
It was only when he applied for a passport under his real name in January this year, unaware he had been declared dead by his former wife, that his deception was uncovered.
He was due to be sentenced yesterday on a series of fraud charges that relate to his former wife claiming $1.12 million in life insurance. However, the sentencing at the Christchurch District Court was put off at the request of his lawyer Barry Hart.
A court order preventing the publication of his name and the identity he assumed was lifted yesterday.
His former wife, Sharon Behan-Kitto, wants him to serve one year in jail for every year his three children lived without him in the belief he was dead.
The Weekend Herald is unable to speak to Dale because of a court gagging order, but it is understood that when he fled Auckland he was depressed, distanced from family members, and had turned to alcohol.
During his five years in Christchurch, where he worked as a joiner, he travelled back to Auckland more than once for his job.
A former employer, Roger Syme, said Dale had accompanied him several times to high-profile rugby matches at Christchurch's AMI Stadium.
"What's the chance of being seen on a television screen? A bloody good chance, isn't there? The way they go around the bloody crowds and stuff."
The Weekend Herald understands Dale also made no effort to alter his appearance.
He may face a prison sentence, but Mr Hart is seeking to have home detention considered.
Mr Hart said Dale was offering to pay $50,000 to $80,000 of equity in his Christchurch home as reparation. He also wanted to meet his victims in the process of restorative justice.
Dale, who remains on bail until sentencing in September, will be allowed to travel to Auckland for a psychiatric or psychological assessment to help determine his state of mind when he walked away from his old life.