Lappin family's agony over fraud

The court heard how Duffy used the passport to get a bank account

The grandparents of murdered Liverpool teenager Joseph Lappin have said they were devastated to discover their dead son's identity was used by a fraudster.

Andrew Lappin - who would have been Joseph's uncle - died in a road accident in 1972 when he was three.

Gerald Duffy, 39, of Newbattle Terrace, Edinburgh, was jailed on Thursday after admitting that he used Andrew's birth certificate to apply for a passport.

Phillip Lappin, Joseph's grandfather, said it made them feel "rotten".

Describing the moment he found out about Duffy, the 70-year-old said: "One night two and a half years ago there was a knock on a door.

"It was a policeman who said we've just got a message from Strathclyde, he said this character was in Edinburgh and was using Andrew's name, and did we know anything about it.

Joseph Lappin was with friends when he was attacked

"I said, well there's a photograph of Andrew there, he got killed in 1972."

Mr Lappin's grandson, army cadet Joseph, was stabbed to death outside an Everton youth club in October aged just 16.

Mr Lappin said: "It makes us feel rotten, it goes on and on."

Duffy was jailed for four years and nine months at the High Court in Glasgow.

Andrew Lappin's mother, Florence, had written a letter which was read to the court.

In it she described how loved Andrew was and how devastated the family had been by his death.