Aleksandra Suchodolksda received a suspended sentence for trying to smuggle her boyfriend through a passport check at Dublin Airport with a fake Polish document
A young woman who tried to smuggle her boyfriend through an airport was left high and dry by her partner.
Aleksandra Suchodolksda, 24, has since received a two month suspended sentence for trying to get her partner through Dublin Airport with a fake passport. He has since walked free after applying for international protection, a court heard. Ms Suchodolksda, of Nursery Road, Leeds, meanwhile, was left by her Albanian partner to tackle the court.
Dublin Airport officials quizzed the unnamed partner about his documents, and then took out his real passport and applied for asylum in Ireland as Suchodolksda was arrested and refused bail. The Polish mother of two pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court to an offence under the Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Act 2021 for assisting unlawful entry into the State.
She had been in custody on remand since being arrested at Terminal 1 by the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) on November 27 last. Judge John Hughes noted the DPP directed summary disposal of the case in the District Court rather than sending it to the Circuit Court, which has broader sentencing powers. After hearing an outline of the evidence, he accepted jurisdiction and her guilty plea.
Garda Yang Meng told the court the accused and an Albanian man arrived at Dublin Airport as passengers on a Ryanair flight from Barcelona. At passport control, the accused showed her Polish passport however the man with her was questioned after producing a fake Polish passport. He subsequently produced his Albanian passport and claimed asylum.
Garda Meng said they had met previously in England and had been in an on-off relationship; he returned to Albania in August, but they remained in contact, DublinLive reported. The GNIB officer said the unnamed man went to Spain in November and “asked her to meet him in Barcelona and she believed that was her birthday present”. Suchodolksda flew out on November 26 and booked return flights a day later to the UK via a connecting flight at Dublin Airport.
The court heard he has since been processed for international protection but was never charged and remained at liberty. Meanwhile, Suchodolksda was refused bail because she was a flight risk. Defence solicitor Tracy Horan said her client would end up with a conviction and she was “extremely distraught” and had not been able to be with her children for Christmas.
Judge Hughes said it was a serious offence but gave her credit for the guilty plea and noted the mitigation, her age and personal circumstances and that she had been incarcerated since the arrest. Suchodolksda hugged her solicitor after the judge finalised her case and she was set free after signing a bond to be of good behaviour.