American seeking asylum from US in Northern Ireland in court over alleged false documents
A United States citizen seeking asylum in Northern Ireland allegedly created and lodged a series of forged documents at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast, a judge heard today.
Ryan Frost, 35, was arrested after office staff were alerted to the suspected deception earlier this week.
The accused insists any documents were legitimate and told police he has the status of a High Court judge.
Frost, with an address on the city’s Antrim Road, faces a total of 14 charges, including multiple counts of forgery, fraud by false representation and possessing articles for use in fraud.
Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard he is currently under investigation in connection with similar alleged offences in May this year.
Police were contacted again when he attempted to lodge further papers at the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ) on Wednesday.
An investigating detective claimed Frost had produced convincing forgeries.
“Should a vulnerable person or business receive such a document, it could cause anxiety, stress or even a financial loss,” he said.
“The defendant believes they are genuine, and he also believes that he is a judge of the King's Bench Division of the Royal Courts of Justice.”
Shown some of the seized material, Deputy District Judge Liam McStay described Frost’s alleged activity as “a level of madness”.
Defence counsel Michael Boyd confirmed his client denies the charges.
He said Frost has issued a number of lawsuits, including an action against the PSNI over his original arrest in May, and separate claims related to his mother’s estate.
“His firm instructions are that he was lodging what he believed to be genuine documents. He will not be shifted from that,” the barrister submitted.
Originally from San Antonio in Texas, Frost has lived in Northern Ireland since 2022.
“He came here claiming asylum, which is rather unusual coming from the United States, but he was (allegedly) attacked and shot by his mother’s boyfriend,” Mr Boyd added.
Granting bail, Judge McStay banned Frost from possessing any forged documents and imposed restrictions on him attending the RCJ offices.
He stated: “Anybody who knows about this documentation and these courts would not look at these for very long before realising they were nonsense.
“But for people who don’t know, that’s the difficulty. It is certainly creating an impression that these were issued by the High Court.