Tourist ‘ate’ passport biometric data and attacked airport official, court hears

Tom Tuite

A tourist tore out and devoured the biometric data page of his passport after assaulting a Dublin Airport official verifying his identity, a court was told.

Palestinian national Hasan Alshaer (27), with no stated address, was charged with assaulting a customs official at Terminal 1 and an offence under the Immigration Act for failing to produce a passport or document establishing his identity.

He appeared at Dublin District Court on Wednesday following his arrest at 5pm on Tuesday.

Court Garda Sergeant Niall Murphy told Judge John King that the allegation was Mr Alshaer presented to an immigration control officer.

“He tried to run away from her taking his passport with him; when she chased after him, judge, it is alleged he struck at her, causing her to fall, he tore out a page of the travel document he was carrying and then ate the page with the biometric data on it.”

The sergeant contended that the accused was a flight risk and objected to his bail.

Defence barrister Paddy Flynn said his client had money and could stay in a hotel. Mr Flynn said the accused came to Ireland as a tourist and gardaí had his Palestinian passport.

The sergeant countered that the passport was “no use” because it cannot be verified properly now.

The defence said the man had a second Greek passport, but the State contended that compounded his problem because gardaí could not verify who he was.

The defence said Mr Alsher had lived in Germany and Greece for five years.

Judge King said: “There is a serious problem here. He arrives in this country, sees immigration, runs, and then tears a page out of his passport, and this page has his biometric data on it, it is alleged. That is a huge problem for him”.

Mr Flynn said he was instructed that the man had a residential permit. However, the judge suggested a fingerprint check with Interpol could assist but noted that it could take some time.

Sergeant Murphy said that would not be resolved that day, and it was unlikely that the State would now accept any documentary evidence provided by the accused.

He added that he did not present a visa or any authority to enter the country on top of allegedly destroying the travel document he initially presented to customs officers.

Mr Alsher, who has yet to enter a plea, listened to the proceedings with the aid of an interpreter and remained silent during the hearing,

He postponed his bail application. Judge King remanded him in custody to appear again on Friday.