A man who used a fake Portuguese driving licence and identity card to obtain employment in Ireland was sentenced to three months in prison yesterday at Galway District Court.
Romanian Anton Novak (24), with former addresses at Abbey Trinity, Tuam, Co Galway, and Gurraun Ard, Galway, pleaded guilty to working in a garage in the Oranmore area between July 1st, 2004, and February 3rd, 2005.
He worked without an employment permit, contrary to section 2 of the Employment Permits Act 2003.
He also admitted being in possession of a false Portuguese driving licence and identity card, knowing they were false, on February 3rd and again on July 26th last.
Novak had been held in custody following his arrest last week so that Garda Ronan Mahon could liaise with the immigration authorities and Interpol to ascertain his true identity.
In court yesterday, Garda Mahon said that while the fake driving licence (with Novak's photograph and fingerprint on it) and the identity card claimed the accused was from Portugal, he was satisfied that Novak was from Romania and was working here illegally.
Garda Mahon added that the owner of the garage had been genuinely convinced by the quality of the forged passport that Novak was Portuguese, and thought he could work legally in this country.
Garda Carl Hennessy from the national immigration office told the court it was not unusual to find people like Novak in possession of fake documents.
Judge Conal Gibbons said the documents were of very good quality and he was anxious the Portuguese authorities be made aware of them.
Judge Gibbons said he did not believe Novak when he claimed to have bought the documents for €200 from an unnamed Italian man in a bar in Dublin.
The judge said he accepted Novak was an economic migrant but that did not give him the right to be in this country with false documents.
"I have to send him to prison to make others understand that if they are caught with forged documents in this country they will go to prison," the judge said.
He sentenced Novak to three months in prison for being in possession of a false driving licence and a further three months in prison for being in possession of a false identity card, to run concurrently.
Novak was also fined €100 for working without an employment permit.