For decades, Shane William Pritchard has been charged with crimes he didn’t commit and chased for debts he doesn’t owe. That’s because the Dunedin man is not the only Shane William Pritchard in town. While the duo’s shared name and age has sometimes been a handy loophole for one Shane, for the other it has caused problems for 36 years, so he approached Fair Go for help.
It’s been years of fearing every knock on the door. Years of wondering if he’ll be hand-cuffed and taken to jail. “Just screws up your bloody life, to be honest,” says Shane William Pritchard. He’s well and truly over it.
The problems began in the 1990s. This Shane, born in Mosgiel to a close-knit family, was a good student, a scout and a member of the Air Training Corp. So his mum, Sandra James, remembers getting quite a shock when her friend called one evening. She’d been acting as a referee for a gun licence for Shane. “She said come around here quick, the police are here,” says Sandra, whose friend informed her that the police had a long list of offences against Shane’s name, such as theft and speeding fines.
They’re both Shane William Pritchard, but one has spent years breaking the law while the other just pays a steep price for sharing his name. (Source: TVNZ)
Not long after that the police turned up to where Shane was working at the local tannery to arrest him. He remembers how it felt. “You’re scrambling in your head to think of ways that you can prove it’s not you.”
On that occasion, thankfully, he managed. But the problems kept coming, as the root cause became clear.
Another Shane William Pritchard had been born in Otago, in the same month of the same year. They were separated by just two weeks and about 50 miles – one growing up in Mosgiel, the other in Milton – but also by the lives they’d been leading.
To watch the full video story go to TVNZ+
Unlike Shane from Mosgiel, Shane from Milton had huge problems focusing at school. He was raised in foster care and then boys’ homes, running riot from an early age. He’s upfront about what made him tick. “In front of my friends, I just wanted to look cool and get in trouble,” he tells Fair Go.
Milton Shane was used to run-ins with police. Then one day, he got pulled over in his car and asked about his driving licence. “And the police go ‘oh, what date of birth are you? We’ve got two here, one’s got a licence and the other hasn’t.’ And I’m like ‘obviously it must be the one with a licence’.”
But he wasn’t the one with a licence, he’d never even sat his driving test.
Soon after, he went to his bank to draw out an ACC payment and was asked which bank account was his, as there were two accounts in his name. He opted for the one with the most money, which belonged to Mosgiel Shane. He says that at that point he was trying to figure out what was going on. “I thought it was just an error.” But he took advantage of the situation and withdrew a large sum of cash.
Mosgiel Shane became aware of the withdrawal when a scheduled car payment was declined. He spoke to the bank and the police, and when Milton Shane turned up at the bank to withdraw more money, the police were called.
Identity fraud was considered but Milton Shane was legitimately expecting an ACC payment, which ACC confirmed, so the withdrawal appeared to be a genuine mistake and the police couldn’t take any action.
‘Anything I could get away with, I would’
Mosgiel Shane thought the bank incident would have alerted police to the problem.
But his nemesis had cottoned on to the advantages of having a second identity to use, and he didn’t hold back. Milton Shane acquired a suite of furniture on hire-purchase. Mosgiel Shane was chased for the money. Milton-Shane clocked up more driving offences. Mosgiel Shane was chased for fines. As Milton Shane admits, “I was a criminal you know, anything I could get away with, I would and I could and I did, because it kept me out of jail”.
Mosgiel Shane thought about changing his name but realised he’d have to provide his previous name in the process, which might in itself raise questions. “Then also, why should I change my name?”
His mum adds, “I don’t think he really wanted to, we gave him that name out of love”.
To watch the full video story go to TVNZ+
Mosgiel Shane felt the police, the courts and debt collectors such as Baycorp should be able to distinguish between himself and Milton Shane. After all, Milton Shane looks very different, with facial tattoos and a missing finger.
The police first addressed the issue in the 1990s after Mosgiel Shane went to the media. He was given a letter to carry with him should he be apprehended. But this did little to stop the fines. He and his parents felt his situation wasn’t being taken seriously.
Mosgiel Shane went to the media a second time in the mid-2000s. On this occasion, the police gave their word that a record in their system would stop the misidentification from happening again. This does appear to have worked as far as police action goes. But while Mosgiel Shane was given the same reassurance by the Ministry of Justice, he continued to receive demands from the courts for unpaid fines, and Baycorp kept knocking, demanding payments. He’d also get stopped and questioned whenever he left the country for work trips or holidays.
It took a huge toll on Mosgiel Shane’s mental health. People would think it was funny, not realising the constant stress it placed on his life. His dad, John Pritchard says that at times his son felt his life wasn’t worth living. “I can remember, quite plainly, worrying about what he was going to do to himself and that really ate me up.”
On one occasion, he and his son were in tears as Shane admitted he was at breaking point. He described going for days at a time unable to eat or sleep wondering what might happen next. “Am I going to be in a position where they’ve got me in handcuffs or I’ve got debt collectors coming to the door?” …You’re spiralling into this black hole.” He started taking anti-anxiety medication which helped. And events regarding Milton Shane seemed to settle. Until last year.
One illegal fisherman, two fines
Milton Shane was charged for fishing without a licence in Twizel and failing to comply with fisheries officers. In this case, as with many others in recent times, he gave his own birth date. But a court registrar incorrectly entered the birth date of Mosgiel Shane in the system.
Then, somehow, both Shanes were being chased to pay the $1530 fine.
It was Mosgiel Shane who spotted the error and rang the court. He was told to fill out a form, which he did. He also sent a statement from his manager saying he’d not been fishing in Twizel that day.
The reply he got was to say he’d been given the wrong form and that they wouldn’t accept his proof. “They weren’t interested. They just wanted to know how I was going to pay the fine.”
The first Milton Shane knew about this was when Fair Go told him Mosgiel Shane had been chased for the fine. “How come it got sent to him? And I got sent one as well, and I’m paying the fine as well?”
Mosgiel Shane was beyond frustrated. He was told to pay up or face the consequences, so he employed a lawyer. He’d been reluctant to do this before, feeling he shouldn’t have to pay good money to correct someone else’s mistake.
Sorry, but no refund
As a result of his lawyer’s intervention, the fine was withdrawn. But it cost Mosgiel Shane over $5000 in legal fees, and took months of back and forth between him, his lawyer and the courts.
“Why should anybody have to pay their own money to right somebody else’s wrongs and prove who they are? I’m sick and tired of proving who I am all the time.”
He wanted the Ministry of Justice to take responsibility and reimburse him for his legal costs. They refused, saying court staff such as the registrar in this case have immunity if they make mistakes such as the one made here.
“That’s bull****, to be honest,” says Mosgiel Shane. “Sorry, but I deal with a lot of clients, and if I make a mistake and it’s affecting my client, I’m on the phone to them apologising, and there’s no way, shape or form, that it’s going to cost them money to rectify a mistake that I’ve made.”
An apology was sent to his lawyer, but not to him. He feels that’s not good enough. Neither does his mum. “For goodness’ sake, he deserves a million apologies from those guys,” she says.
However, he does get an apology from Milton Shane. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry for what I’ve done.”
Milton Shane told Fair Go he still gets in trouble, but wants the other Shane to know he doesn’t use his birth date anymore. And he had a message for him: “We’ve got to get it sorted for you, so you can have a good life with you and your family because I’m trying to get my life together with my son and my grandson”. He offers to meet to see if they can sort it out together.
“No offence, but I’m not interested in meeting him,.” says Mosgiel Shane. He says he doesn’t hold any grudges and accepts Milton Shane’s apology, but he wants to move on. And he believes the only way for that to happen is for the courts and the Ministry of Justice to give him a guarantee that mix-ups won’t occur in the future.
Fair Go asked the Ministry of Justice to appear in person to apologise and provide reassurance to Shane of its plans to guard against these mistakes.
The Ministry declined our request to be on camera saying any comment on an individual case would compromise the independence of the courts as the Ministry operates separately. But it did send a written apology directly to Mosgiel Shane.
It also admitted mistakes can occur in clerical records, as some data is still entered manually, but said instructions were clear and the importance of getting things right had been emphasised to staff.
Mosgiel Shane isn’t totally convinced that’s the end of it
“All I want is for the Ministry of Justice and the courts to do their job. I’d like to live without this hanging over me all the time. All the bloody time.”
There is some progress. For the first time in about 30 years, his criminal check has come back showing a clean slate.
“Hopefully this is the end of my story.”
