A man who had an Irishwoman's stolen passport in his possession when going on holiday to Greece has been remanded for sentence by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Gheorge Mihai (38), a native of Romania, with an address at Summerhill Parade near Dublin city centre, pleaded guilty to knowingly having a stolen passport in his possession on September 2nd, 2002, at Dublin Airport.
Judge Desmond Hogan remanded him for sentence on February 3rd next year.
The passport had been stolen in a city-centre pub in June 2002 and was recovered when Mihai was being frisked by an airport security officer. The officer became suspicious of a bulge in his jacket after he placed other items from his pockets in the tray at the X-ray machine before his departure.
Mihai was dressed in a three-piece suit, shirt and tie when apprehended and told gardaí he was going to Greece for a holiday.
He said he had intended contacting gardaí to hand over the passport which he claimed he had earlier found on a bus.
He denied he bought it and that he intended taking it to Greece so that someone else could enter Ireland using it. He said he borrowed €1,500 from the credit union to go on holiday.
