A young German citizen has told how his life has been destroyed after a London criminal used his ID to rack up a string of convictions that now appear on the German database against his name.

The phantom record has left the 24-year-old in despair, effectively blacklisted and unable to get a job for the past four years in his native Bonn, stymying a budding career and the start of his adult life.

Rami Battikh has written to the Metropolitan police in London begging them to treat the matter with urgency telling them he feels trapped and powerless after years of futile effort to get the the record deleted.

The mix-up has been described by a British judge as a “mess” that has left a terrible stain on a German national’s record.

Battikh’s nightmare began following a short holiday in London in 2019. He had travelled with his passport and German national identity card but discovered on return his ID card was missing or stolen.

He did not think too much about it, applied for a new ID card and two years later finished his vocational apprenticeship at Vodafone finance in Bonn.

Battikh, a dual German Tunisian national, was soon offered two jobs, one with Vodafone and the other with the local tax office.

But his excitement turned into an ongoing Kafkaesque nightmare after a routine employer check showed he had a criminal record in London.

“I couldn’t believe it. I told my employers that it was not true that for sure it was not me, that I had proof I wasn’t in the UK at that time as I was in Tunisia at the time and had stamps on my passport to prove it.

“But they just said they couldn’t just take my word over a police record,” said Battikh.

His sister Rebecca said: “We have a saying in Germany if you are in shock or scared, your heart drops in your trousers. That’s how he felt.”

The issues started in March 2021 when another man fraudulently using Battikh’s ID was jailed by Wood Green crown court in London for 18 months for a series of offences including driving without a licence or insurance, fraud by false representation, and possession of a false, improperly obtained identity document belonging to another person.

The mix-up was first picked up by a judge, now retired, in Wood Green crown court after Battikh hired a solicitor.

Emails seen by the Guardian show his successor, Judge Dodd, tried to get the Met to rectify the error in 2022, describing it as “mess” that had stained the German national’s record.

As efforts to persuade the Met that its database entry was incorrect continued without success, Battikh’s nightmare worsened. Fourteen months later more crimes were recorded against his stolen ID in London including possession of a knife in a public place.

When he discovered his so-called criminal record had lengthened he thought his life was over.

“I was in disbelief, I thought what is wrong with the UK? They have already said I am not the criminal and my ID was stolen because the court confirmed this. But why can they not delete my name from the record. I was really upset,” he said.

Last year he wrote to the Met, which appear to be the authority that can change criminal records, but still has not had his name cleared.

“I cannot continue to live like this, waiting indefinitely for a criminal record to be cleared. It is incomprehensible that this process has been ongoing for six months with no successful resolution.

“Please, what would you do if you were in my shoes, feeling trapped and powerless because of mistakes beyond your control. I feel utterly desperate,” he said.

At 24 he has no prospect of a job, has had to sell his car to cover bills, and is now sharing his story because he does not know what to do.

In April 2024 he wrote to Wood Green crown court, the only place he thinks is taking him seriously in England, offering DNA or fingerprints which he had taken at a German police station for transfer by Interpol.

“This fraud destroys my life. I can’t get any jobs. Please if you need I will give you my fingerprints, a hair strand … I can’t live like this any more. I am innocent and I never did any of those criminal acts I beg for help,” he wrote to the court.

In a statement the Met said: “We are aware of this case and we continue to work with other agencies to progress this with a view to having the situation rectified. We understand that the length of time this has taken has added to the concern and upset, but aim to provide an update to the applicant in the near future.”