Bennett Arron was arrested for stealing the identity of the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, while making a documentary about identity theft for Channel 4...
After himself being the victim of identity theft - and having someone run up ten thousand pounds worth of debt in his name Bennett agreed to make the programme for Channel 4; in it he easily steals the ID of several members of the general public – mostly in a shopping centre in Swansea.
However, deciding this wasn't dramatic enough, he decided that he should attempt to steal the identity of a politician to prove his point; Bennett explained. "I was a little bit dubious about it but Channel 4 said it was in the public interest so there should not be any repercussions.
“I applied for Charles Clarke’s birth certificate and then used it to apply for a driving licence, which you’re not supposed to be able to do. A week later I had a licence in his name with my photo on it."
“We then contacted the Home Office to say, ‘This is what we’ve done – I’ve got this, I don’t want it, we did it to prove a point’.”
He said the Home Office cancelled one meeting and then refused to reschedule it.
Six months later – just weeks before the programme was due to be broadcast – Mr Arron received a 6.50am visit from three CID officers. He eventually accepted a police caution for his actions but continues to harbour some injustice. “Ironically, when my identity was stolen and I tracked down the fraudster myself, nothing was done,”
How To Steal an Identity will be shown on May 15, on Channel 4, at 11pm
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