A man attempted to board a flight to Dubai using a fake boarding pass, then pretended to be a passenger who had already boarded.
Yann Ilunga, 25, was supposed to meet a ‘lady friend’ at a hotel in the United Arab Emirates, but his plans were halted when he was found with a doctored boarding card.
Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, heard that he had altered the airport code on the electronic ticket on his mobile phone from Heathrow (LHR) to Manchester (MAN).
The boarding pass which he doctored belonged to a female friend who was flying from London.
He failed to get through security and then tried to use personal details of another passenger.
Yann Ilunga, 25, from Liverpool, was supposed to meet a ‘lady friend’ at a hotel in the United Arab Emirates, but his plans were halted when he was found with a doctored boarding card
Ilunga, of Liverpool, was then given a duplicate card after ‘hoodwinking’ check in staff.
His boarding pass was proved to be a fake when he attempted to board the flight at the gate and had to show his own passport.
Ilunga pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation and was today handed a suspended sentence.
Prosecuting, Peter Warne told the court that on February 9 of last year, Ilunga arrived at Manchester Airport and made his way to the security gate.
He said: ‘He had a doctored pass on his mobile phone that he used in an attempt to board the flight, but the security system picked up that something was wrong.
‘The pass had been doctored from a boarding pass of a female friend who was flying from London. That attempt didn’t go through security.
‘He tried to show the security officer his phone with the pass on it, but that didn’t work either.
‘He was asked to return to the Emirates desk to query why the boarding card wasn’t working.’
The court heard that the ticket was supposed to cost £800.
Ilunga met another passenger, who was able to get through security, at the check-in desk.
Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, heard that he had altered the airport code on the electronic ticket on his mobile phone from Heathrow (LHR) to Manchester (MAN)
He then returned to the check-in desk and ‘pretended he was the other man’ in order to board the flight, the court heard.
Ilunga claimed his original boarding pass had been ‘mislaid’ and managed to obtain a legitimate oone.
He went to the security gate, where he tried again to scan his boarding pass.
Mr Warne said: ‘As his boarding card was a duplicate, the computer system would not allow him through security.
‘He tried to hoodwink another member of the security team and showed him the card he had rescanned, and he was allowed through.
‘His efforts were uncovered at the boarding gate. He was asked to produce his passport and the name didn’t match the name on the boarding card.
‘He made another attempt to board the plane by showing the fake pass and also gave the wrong seat number.’
Ilunga was arrested and the other passenger was taken off the flight and interviewed but wasn’t prosecuted, it was said.
Ilunga was said to have two previous offences on his record for avoiding train fares.
Mitigating, Nick Ross said a probation report described that the offence was borne out of ‘poor planning, third rate actions and lack of consequential thinking’, going on to describe the actions as ‘foolish’.
Mr Ross said: ‘The defendant was due to travel to Dubai for a few days holiday with a lady friend and he purchased the ticket for her.
He failed to get through security and then tried to use personal details of another passenger, but his fraud was discovered when he was asked to show his passport at the gate
‘This legitimately allowed her to travel on the day in question from Heathrow.
‘The plan was that they would meet up in Dubai and spend a few nights in the hotel.
‘On that day there was inconvenient weather and he couldn’t travel by train to London and so was determined to secure himself a free ticket.
‘He was doomed to fail – he should have given up and walked out of the airport the right way.’
He said his client told him: ‘I can’t believe I have done this, I’ll never do anything like this again.’
Sentencing him, Recorder Mark Ford QC said: ‘You did not desist in your attempts to board, even when the fraudulent instrument was identified as being something not enabling you to enter the aircraft.
‘You continued to act in a dishonest and persistent fashion.
‘It seems to me there was a significant security issue here, quite apart from the potential disruptive nature of your actions.’
Ilunga was handed five months imprisonment which was suspended for two years, 10 days of rehabilitation activity requirements and 140 hours unpaid work.