08/05/2006
Baby name fraudster is finally identified
The true identity of a man who stole the name of a dead baby has been confirmed as Charles Albert Stopford III, a US citizen from Clearwater, Florida.
Mr Stopford was last seen by his family in April 1983, when he was living with his grandmother in Orlando.
Mr Stopford lived under the name of Christopher Buckingham for more than 20 years. He used the name - which was taken from the headstone of an eight-month-old baby who died in 1963 - to obtain a British passport and national insurance number.
He moved to England with his fiancée and the couple married and had two children before divorcing in 1997.
Buckingham, who had also used the title of Lord Buckingham, was arrested by immigration officials in Dover last year over passport offences. New security measures introduced the 9/11 attacks led to his passport being revoked, when it was found to match the death certificate of Christopher Buckingham.
He was jailed for 21 months last year, but the sentence was reduced to nine months on appeal.
(KMcA)
Mr Stopford was last seen by his family in April 1983, when he was living with his grandmother in Orlando.
Mr Stopford lived under the name of Christopher Buckingham for more than 20 years. He used the name - which was taken from the headstone of an eight-month-old baby who died in 1963 - to obtain a British passport and national insurance number.
He moved to England with his fiancée and the couple married and had two children before divorcing in 1997.
Buckingham, who had also used the title of Lord Buckingham, was arrested by immigration officials in Dover last year over passport offences. New security measures introduced the 9/11 attacks led to his passport being revoked, when it was found to match the death certificate of Christopher Buckingham.
He was jailed for 21 months last year, but the sentence was reduced to nine months on appeal.
(KMcA)
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US link to 'fake earl'
The mystery behind the identity of a man who stole a name from a dead baby's headstone and called himself Lord Buckingham may finally be solved. According to a report in 'The Times', the real name of Christopher Buckingham is believed to be Charles Albert Stopford, who disappeared from his home in Florida in 1983.
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