COURT officials in Carlisle involved in prosecuting a rail traveller who claimed he is called Jesus Christ revealed he was ‘identified’ by a third party - and bore the name of a former top model.

The bearded man - who initially arrived in the dock at the city’s Rickergate Magistrates’ Court in a green blindfold - was arrested at Carlisle’s railway station on Monday after a guard found him travelling without a valid ticket. He should have paid £19.70 for a ticket from Edinburgh, the court heard.

During four appearances in the court, the mystery traveller insisted his name was Jesus Christ, and gave an address in Mauritius.

He claimed his age was 29.

But Crown Prosecution Service lawyers said they could find no trace of a person with his claimed date of birth - January 1, 1991.

But during his trial for dodging his rail fare, it emerged that somebody had contacted the court and positively identified the man known until then as ‘Mr Christ.’

He was named as Matthew Dominic Holbrook, with a birth date of August 16, 1982, and formerly of Rochdale.

The man calling himself ‘Jesus Christ’ repeatedly declined to confirm those details. As a result, a district judge said he was in contempt of court, and remanded him to Durham Prison overnight.

The Cumberland News has learned that a man with the name attributed to the man was once a top model, working the catwalk for the likes of Giorgio Armani, Dolce and Gabbana and Christian Dior.

After hearing statements from train staff, Deputy District Judge Gary Garland delivered a guilty verdict on the fare avoidance charge and sentenced the man to day in prison. Because it had already been served he was immediately freed.

John Moran, prosecuting, read from a statement given by conductor Brian Gillies, who was checking tickets on the Manchester-bound Transpennine Express train which the defendant used on September 14.

The defendant - in sunglasses, and with matted hair - was scruffy, said the guard.

The guard said: “He [the defendant] gestured for me to come closer and then said he was on an undercover Ministry of Defence mission and he produced a tatty piece of paper.” Written on this was a MoD logo. When asked for proper identification, he failed to produce anything satisfactory, said the guard.

When again asked for a ticket, he referred to his ‘tatty’ piece of paper. The guard pointed out that he would call the police, prompting the man to ask: “What are the police going to do?”

He then waved the guard away.

The defendant was arrested at 1.30pm at Carlisle railway station, where he told British Transport Police officers he had a valid MoD travel pass. He was asked where he got it, and replied: “Off a printer.”

At one point during the trial, the defendant told Deputy District Judge Garland: “I am not going to denigrate your office, but my office supersedes other offices.”

After sentencing him, Judge Garland agreed to provide ‘Mr Christ’ with a travel pass so he can complete his journey to Manchester. Responding, Mr Christ asked: “Can it include Manchester to London and then to Portsmouth?”

Deputy District Judge Garland refused.

He told the defendant: “You’ve been a nuisance. I don’t care what people are called. If you want to be Jesus Christ that’s fine; preach the gospel and that’s fine. “But in our society it works by regulating what people do through the courts and we’re here to stop people being oppressed and stop people doing things which are wrong. “You were definitely on that train without a proper ticket,” he said, adding that the defendant had made a nuisance of himself.

Meanwhile, the defendant’s true identity remains unconfirmed, with the court record simply referring to him as “Mr Unknown.”