A man prosecutors believe could have as many as 14 previous convictions has claimed his brother is using his identity to commit crimes without them appearing on his own record.
Serial offender Saulius Semis was due to be sentenced at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday for driving a car without a licence and handing over fake identification to the police.
But Sheriff Kenneth Stewart refused to deal with his case after the court heard there was a dispute over the 34-year-old’s previous convictions.
When considering sentence, sheriffs are obliged to take into account the accused’s criminal history.
When someone admits an offence in court, or is found guilty after trial, a schedule of previous convictions is handed over to the sheriff.
Semis, however, took issue with the 14 offences listed under his name – and claimed he had only ever been convicted twice before.
Representing the Crown, fiscal depute Samia Rasheed said that on investigation it appeared Semis and his brother had been “using each other’s aliases” to commit crimes.
She said that as a result Semis would have to undergo a series of fingerprint tests to determine which crimes listed on his schedule he was actually responsible for and which should be attributed to his brother.
Semis, of Flat C, 11 Leask Avenue, Peterhead, admitted committing two offences on May 26 last year when he appeared in court last month.
He was stopped driving along North Esplanade West in Aberdeen and police officers asked to see his licence.
As a result he handed over what looked like a Lithuanian driving licence with his details on it.
Mrs Rasheed told the court the officers felt the document was of poor quality and sent it to be analysed. Experts ruled it was fake.
The court heard Semis was undertaking a community pay back order for a separate offence at the time.
Sheriff Stewart deferred sentence on Semis until the end of next month to allow fingerprint testing to be carried out in order to establish which crimes he was responsible for.
Last night, a spokeswoman for Police Scotland said they were unable to comment on whether the men had been able to use each other’s aliases.