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A man tried to get a female law graduate's degree put in his name by claiming he had a sex change.

Nathan Hogg emailed Durham University and pretended to be the woman, a graduate who had gained a law degree from the institution.

He claimed she was having gender reassignment and asked the university to provide another certificate in her new name - Nathan Hogg.

However, the woman was not undergoing any sex change procedure and was shocked to find someone had been trying to use her details to get her name changed on her degree, a court heard.

It was said that Hogg was depressed and did this to make himself "feel better".

He had obtained the woman's details from LinkedIn and contacted the university.

Now the 30-year-old, of Columbia Terrace, Blyth , Northumberland, has pleaded guilty to a charge of fraud by false representation.

The offence took place between December 2018 and June this year.

At South East Northumberland Magistrates' Court , prosecutor James Long said: "This is a very unusual case.

"The victim is a young lady, a trainee solicitor. She graduated with a good degree in law from Durham University.

"The university was contacted by the defendant in December last year purporting to be [the woman], using an email address.

"In the email, he was saying that [the woman] had undergone gender reassignment and was now Nathan Hogg, and could the university issue a new certificate of degree in the new name.

"The aggravating feature of the case is that the defendant has gone to some effort to further that fraud."

A university staff member responded to Hogg's email and asked for the woman's existing degree certificate, the court was told.

"There's an email trail between the defendant and the university, with the defendant saying 'no I can't, I've lost it, " said Mr Long.

"There's some toing and froing. As part of the fraud, he provides to the university a document.

"It looks, on the face of it, a very convincing document, where the defendant has signed in, what appears to be, his former name of [the woman] and new assumed name Nathan Hogg.

(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

"I don't know the circumstances in which this document was created. It appears to be witnessed by two apparent witnesses from different addresses in the Jesmond area."

Mr Long said the woman then happened to contact the university asking for a reference for a job and it transpired she was not trying to change her name. The police then became involved.

In a statement to the court, the victim said she was shocked that someone had been pretending to be her.

She carried out a search on Google and LinkedIn and found a profile in the name of Nathan Hogg which had her exact qualification details, including her degree and college results.

She said: "The whole matter has caused me to feel violated and upset that someone has purported to be me."

It was said the defendant did not have any previous convictions though he had been cautioned twice before - once in June 2016 for making an article for use in fraud and another for an identical offence in December 2016.

Paul Dunn, representing Hogg, said the defendant did not make use of any information he had obtained nor had he gained financially.

He added: "The defendant did absolutely nothing with the degree certificate or the information he was able to obtain.

"He told police 'I was depressed at the time and in a bad way. I contacted the university with an idea to get a degree to make me feel better about myself. I did not use it, I threw it in the bin.'

"He does not know this lady at all. He accessed limited information about her from LinkedIn."

Mr Dunn further said: "He has split up recently with his partner. He is quite a depressed anxious young man who is finding it difficult.

"He himself undertook a two-three year degree but did not complete it. Maybe there's a sense there that he has failed himself and was trying to make himself feel better.

"But then the way to make yourself feel better is not to make someone else feel bad about themselves."

Magistrates gave Hogg a 12-month community order with 120 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity programme.

He was also ordered to pay £500 compensation to the victim.