Healthcare worker guilty of Terminal 2 'lookalike' passport smuggling incident

By Tom Tuite

A UK-based healthcare assistant has pleaded guilty to smuggling a woman with a Swedish "lookalike" document into Ireland.

Muna Mohamed Sharif (47), with an address at Bodmin Grove, Birmingham, England, was arrested at Dublin Airport on April 10th last.

She was remanded in custody with consent to bail and appeared again at Dublin District Court, where she signed guilty pleas on Friday.

Defence barrister, Paddy Flynn, told Judge Mark O'Connell he had consulted with the accused, who was fully aware of what she had signed.

He added that she was unable to take up bail.

Judge O'Connell granted an order sending her forward for sentencing at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, where the case will be listed for mention on July 8th next.

Legal aid was granted.

The Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) charged her under sections 6 and 8 of the Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Act 2021.

She is accused of assisting another woman with unlawful entry into, transit across, or presence in the State, and of providing a fraudulent travel or identity document for that purpose.

Earlier, Detective Garda Kerry O'Sullivan said Ms Sharif "made no reply" to the charges, which are punishable by a maximum 10-year prison term.

The GNIB detective alleged that the accused and the woman who was brought into the country separately presented themselves to immigration officers in Terminal 2.

However, she added that the airport officials "saw that they made eye contact with each other" and later discovered that Sharif had supplied the passenger with a Swedish lookalike document.

The court heard she made admissions.

Detective Garda O'Sullivan said Sharif's phone contained correspondence and the lawful owner of the passport discussing a fee for the use of the travel document.

The woman using it was from Somalia and has now claimed asylum, the court heard.

Cross-examined by defence counsel, the detective agreed that the accused has lived in the UK since 2002, has British citizenship, and her only passport has been seized.

She also acknowledged that Ms Sharif was cooperative, but did not believe that indicated she would attend her court proceedings if released.

Counsel concurred that she did not have rigid ties to this country but argued that a lack of an address here was not a barrier to bail.

Flynn explained that he had been instructed that his client had friends in Ireland who could be contacted from her phone.

However, the GNIB detective did not think she had connections to Ireland and also said the accused was "very elusive about her friends".

Counsel portrayed that elusiveness as a sign of "greenness," and his client thought she was helping, but the detective did not accept either.

Cash was also seized from her, but the amount was not revealed at her bail hearing.