An elderly American dementia patient who was flown to Britain and dumped in a car park by his family had previously filed a restraining order against his 'volatile' son.

Roger Curry, 76, was targeted by his son Kevin who would appear outside his house screaming and banging on the door until neighbours 'worried for his safety', local residents told Panorama.

The elderly man was taken from his home in Los Angeles by his wife, Mary, and son, Kevin, to the UK where he was abandoned without identification in November 2015.

He was found at Hereford bus station in the company of two men who flagged down a passing ambulance.

As paramedics assessed him, one of the men – described as having an American accent, but younger than Mr Curry – vanished from the scene, leaving the elderly man to be cared for at a nursing home while police and social services tried to ascertain his identity.

'Volatile': The American dementia sufferer whose wife and son flew him from Los Angeles to the UK before dumping him in a car park without ID filed a restraining order against his son for 'domestic violence'. Pictured: His son Kevin and wife Mary

Protection: Court records from 2000 show Roger filed for a restraining order against Kevin, pictured with his mother Mary, because of 'domestic violence' - and it was granted two months later

Victim: Roger Curry, above, 76, was found at Hereford bus station in 2015, in the company of two men who flagged down a passing ambulance. One of the men - who spoke in an American accent - disappeared as paramedics helped Mr Curry

Court records filed in 2000 show that the pensioner filed for a restraining order against his son because of 'domestic violence'. It was granted two months later.

'Their relationship has always been kind of volatile if you want to call it [that],' said Zenia Leon, a neighbour. 'Kevin, you could hear him at all different hours of the night, just pounding on their door trying to get in, screaming and yelling at them profanities.'

She added: 'We worried for their safety.'

According to court records, Kevin Curry has a criminal record stretching back to 1999.

Mr Curry was finally flown back to America eight months after being found, and is now under the care of health authorities in Los Angeles.

According to an investigation by the BBC1 programme Panorama, being screened tonight, court papers filed in Los Angeles state: 'In late 2015 Mr Curry was taken surreptitiously to England by his wife Mary Curry and his son Kevin Curry and abandoned there.'

The mystery surrounding Mr Curry's identity led to numerous theories as to how he ended up in a Hereford car park.

Abandoned: Roger Curry was flown back to America eight months after being dumped by Kevin and Mary, both pictured, without any kind of identification, and is now under the care of health authorities in LA

Aggressive: A family neighbour told of how Kevin, above, who has a criminal record stretching back to 1999, would pound the family home's door down 'at all different hours of the night', screaming and yelling profanities

He appeared to have been well looked after and was dressed from head to toe in new clothes from Tesco.

As reported in the Mail last March, he was called Roger by staff caring for him after they heard him use the name Roger Curry. But police didn't know whether that was his real name or not.

The pensioner told doctors and care home staff he was not from the area and had been 'training' nearby, but said little else.

Mr Curry, pictured aged 18, perplexed authorities for months as they tried to find out who he was

Police even contacted veterans' organisations in case Mr Curry was a former serviceman.

Last year Sergeant Sarah Bennett of West Mercia Police said: 'We have a possible name but we have nothing else.

'We have no identity documents, no indication of where he's from or any family.

'We've trawled through the CCTV. We've also contacted the National Crime Agency. We've gone to Interpol.

'We've done a fingerprint search, we've done a DNA search and that hasn't yielded any results.'

However, the clue to his identity came following a police appeal on BBC Midlands in March last year.

After watching the news report, viewer Debbie Cocker searched the internet and found an old picture that looked like a younger version of the unidentified man.

The photo came from a 1958 yearbook for Edmonds High School in Washington State and it showed an 18-year-old student called Roger Curry.

Investigators then tracked down the Roger Curry pictured in the yearbook to a burnt-out house in an affluent suburb of Los Angeles.

Bewildered: Mr Curry, above, was dressed in new clothes from Tesco and appeared to have been well looked after when he was found alone and confused in Hereford in November 2015

After being shown photographs, neighbours identified the mystery man as Mr Curry – a former nurse who is married with two children.

They then told how his family had been hit by tragedy.

In November 2014 the family's house burnt down in the middle of the night.

Neighbours did not see them again until August 2015, when they found Mr Curry and his wife – who is also ill – camping out in the yard of their burnt-out house.

Their son Kevin had been bringing them food and they appeared to have been locked in behind the fence around the house.

Neighbour Zenia Leon told Panorama that emergency services were shocked by what they found.

She claimed they overheard the couple discussing what had happened, and said of Mr and Mrs Curry: 'They were talking together and they said they were here the night the house burnt down.'

Miss Leon said Mr Curry was upset about his circumstances, adding: 'He was in tears. This is a big, burly macho man in tears saying, 'Who does this to their parents?'.'

Lost and found: Mr Curry, who was found in the tiny country parish of Credenhill, Hereford, was finally identified following a police appeal on BBC Midlands when a viewer searched the internet and found an old picture that looked like a younger version of the man

Kevin Curry told Panorama, which is being screened at 8.30pm tonight, that he had nothing to do with the abandonment of his father in England.

He said his father became ill when they were visiting England on holiday and that he asked a friend to take him to hospital.

But he could not explain why he had left Mr Curry in England for eight months without telling anyone who he was.

Because of the high cost of care in America, elderly people are sometimes abandoned at hospitals in a practice called granny-dumping.

A man in his fifties from Taunton, Somerset, was arrested last April on suspicion of kidnapping Mr Curry. He is on police bail and has not been charged.