Plymouth University sends ex-student man's passport

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-22262243

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A former student has been sent another man's passport, birth certificate and bank statement by his old university.

Alex Evens, 25, received an envelope from Plymouth University which contained the confidential documents of someone with the same name.

Mr Evens said when he returned the envelope, the university "didn't seem that bothered".

But the university has admitted what happened and said it was taking the "matter extremely seriously".

Mr Evens, who is from Plymouth, said: "My mum signed for a piece of mail which was sent recorded delivery.

"There was a passport, bank statement, birth certificate and a provisional driving licence... none of it was for me."

Mr Evens said the documents were for a man who lived in Exeter.

He added the name and address was handwritten and staff must not have checked.

Mr Evens said: "If I was a dodgy dude I could be half way to the Caribbean by now.

"I gave it back to the university... they didn't seem that bothered by how serious it was.

"I haven't been there [at the university] for five years, I don't know why they need my address."

Full review

A spokesperson from the university said: "We have been made aware of this incident and we would like to apologise for any distress caused.

"The university routinely processes thousands of applications per year and conducts hundreds of statutory background checks, and we would like to offer reassurance that this is the first occurrence of its kind.

"We are taking this matter extremely seriously and a full review will be carried out."

The spokesperson said that for certain courses or international students, background checks were required and "such identity documents would need to be produced by the student and seen by the university".

They added that the university kept details of all its former students and graduates and were unsure whether the documents had so far been returned to the correct person.