Courts / Dublin / Report

Man travelled using someone else's passport "so he wouldn't miss his holiday"

Summary

Edward McCarthy, aged 31, travelled to Italy in May 2016 using a passport belonging to Alan O'Reilly after discovering his own passport had expired. He returned to Dublin Airport where a passport officer noticed the photograph did not match his appearance and he was arrested. McCarthy pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful use of a passport. He claimed he had booked the holiday before learning his passport was out of date, and that a new passport application had been returned incorrectly, prompting him to use another person's passport to avoid missing the holiday. The passport owner reported it missing and had a new one issued. McCarthy has 35 prior convictions, mainly for traffic offences. The court accepted his explanation as probably true and imposed a 16‑month suspended sentence with conditions.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Man travelled using someone else's passport "so he wouldn't miss his holiday". Charges or matters: one count of the unlawful use of a passport at Dublin Airport on May 16, 2016. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

• May 16, 2016 Incident
• 2017-12-15 Publication

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Airport Incidents Stage Sentence

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Read the original CNI report