A 27-year-old Ukrainian national ended up before the courts this morning charged with being in possession of false documentation. The man, Maistryshyn Ihor, was apprehended by the police on 14 August. It appears the accused was recently involved in a traffic accident and had to reveal his identification and proper documentation.
The police officers soon realised that the name on his identification card and the name appearing on the licence were not the same.
The court heard how Ihor was originally deported from Malta back in 2016. The man was seeking asylum in Malta but was rejected. Once back in Ukraine, the man acquired false documentation, including a different identity. A year later, the man came back to Malta in another attempt to seek refuge, this time, using fake documentation.
Presiding over the case, Magistrate Josette Demicoli heard how the man, who lives in Qawra, wanted to stay in Malta.
The accused pleaded guilty to the charges brought against him and was sentenced to two months in prison suspended for one year.
The magistrate warned him that nowadays, there are means by which a person is brought to justice even from another country, so that he is careful and measures his actions well. Inspector Frankie Sammut led the prosecution while Peter Paul Zammit defended the accused.