Air passenger ‘helped woman and son illegally immigrate to Ireland', court told
An air passenger who allegedly helped a woman and her son to illegally immigrate to Ireland, where they then sought asylum, is facing trial for people-smuggling.
Rita Marouani (53) initially denied that she knew the pair when she went to a different immigration booth at Dublin Airport, but their boarding passes and fake passports were found on her, a court heard.
Judge Monika Leech ruled the case was too serious to be dealt with at Dublin District Court and adjourned it for further DPP directions.
Ms Marouani, a mother of one and carer with an address in Germany, is charged with assisting the illegal entry of people into the State and possession of false documents.
Dublin Airport.
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Garda Sergeant Derek Spain said the DPP consented to the case remaining in the District Court. Outlining the prosecution's case, he said a woman and her son arrived on an Aer Lingus flight from Germany on March 30 and entered the immigration hall.
They presented at a booth with no documentation and claimed asylum. This woman denied knowing Ms Marouani who came off the same flight, approached a different booth and presented a German passport. The accused also denied having travelled with the other two passengers.
However, it was alleged, she had boarding passes in their names and when further questioned, she produced four passports. Two were genuine Georgian passports and two were false Czech passports, the court heard. In interview, she said she was only helping the woman and her son because they were afraid to fly alone and she knew the woman's mother from Georgia.
According to the prosecution, she alleged that the woman had placed the passports into her handbag without her knowledge.
The accused denied getting any payment from the woman to assist her arriving in Ireland. The woman said she and her son had travelled here on the false Czech passports and paid €2,500 each for them to 'an unknown entity'. She stated she had got the passports in Georgia before travelling to Germany and when they arrived there, she handed all four passports to Ms Marouani but did not pay her any money.
It was the two other people who benefited from the alleged offence and Ms Marouani 'didn't understand the gravity of the situation' and made a 'terrible decision'.
The two were released but as they were not detained, they left and 'continued their journey' out of Ireland and into the UK.
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