A UK-based healthcare assistant has pleaded guilty to smuggling a woman into Ireland using a Swedish “lookalike” travel document.
Muna Mohamed Sharif, 47, with an address at Bodmin Grove in Birmingham, England, was arrested at Dublin Airport on 10 April and subsequently appeared at Dublin District Court, where she signed guilty pleas on Friday, reports Breaking News.
Defence barrister Paddy Flynn told Judge Mark O’Connell he had consulted with the accused, who was fully aware of what she had signed, and 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 8 July, with legal aid granted, reports Breaking News.
The Garda National Immigration Bureau charged her under sections 6 and 8 of the Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Act 2021 — 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.
Detective Garda Kerry O’Sullivan said Ms Sharif had “made no reply” to the charges, which carry a maximum ten-year prison term, reports Breaking News.
The GNIB detective alleged that the accused and the woman she brought into the country separately presented themselves to immigration officers in Terminal 2, but that 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, and that her phone contained correspondence involving the lawful owner of the passport discussing a fee for the use of the travel document, reports Breaking News.
The woman who used the document was from Somalia and has since claimed asylum, the court heard.
Cross-examined by defence counsel, the detective agreed that the accused has lived in the UK since 2002, holds British citizenship, and that her only passport has been seized, reports Breaking News.
She acknowledged that Ms Sharif had been cooperative, but said she did not believe this indicated the accused would attend court proceedings if released.
Counsel argued that a lack of a fixed address in Ireland was not a barrier to bail and said his client had friends in Ireland who could be contacted from her phone, though the GNIB detective said she did not believe the accused had genuine connections to the country and described her as “very elusive about her friends,” reports Breaking News.
Cash was also seized from her, though the amount was not disclosed at the bail hearing.
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