Paper says it was ‘misled’ by investigator who claimed to have travelled from Turkey to Paris without a passport, as ITV News also takes down article on him

The Sun has apologised for a story that claimed a reporter had travelled from Turkey to France without showing his passport, after admitting that the information was untrue.

In a correction on page 2, the newspaper said it had been “misled” by former marine and freelance journalist Emile Ghessen, who claimed he had managed to evade all security checks during a 2,000-mile journey along a refugee trail from Turkey into western Europe.

But Sun insiders said that, after the Croatian authorities denied the account with scans of his passport to prove it, Ghessen confessed he had flown from Croatia to Paris – using his British passport – to deal with a “domestic trauma”, possibly involving his children.



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Instead of telling his paymasters the truth about the journey before publication, the Sun said Ghessen simply made up the account of taking “a series of trains up to Paris, dodging the guards on the way” and hiding in unlocked toilets.

The Sun is understood to be examining legal action against Ghessen. One executive called it “disgraceful” behaviour, admitting it was “not a particularly glorious episode” for the Sun.

On a Facebook page entitled Emile Ghessen on Islamic State, the author appears to apologise for his “unfounded and misleading” findings. “I apologise to all that were offended and I should have been more transparent with my work,” it read.

Contacted by the Guardian, Ghessen said: “I am not a bad person … I just want to let it go.” Saying that his “main emphasis” was the refugee crisis, he refused to confirm or deny the Sun’s version of events. “My name has gone through the mud. I’m finished.”

He went on to blame “hate and abuse from Croatians” for his decision to take down several posts on his social media accounts. Ghessen’s YouTube channel and Twitter account have been taken offline since the controversy over the Sun story.

Despite the contrition three days after a spread headlined “Six days to terror: we reveal how Europe is still wide open to danger” and illustrated with pictures of Ghessen apparently en route in Saturday’s paper, it was the action of the Croatian authorities, who posted scans of Ghessen’s British passport taken at border checks on social media, which first alerted the Sun to the story’s inaccuracies.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A scan of Emile Ghessen’s passport, published by the Croatian interior ministry. Photograph: Croatian interior ministry

The Croatian interior ministry said the story was “harmful not only to the reputation of the Croatian police, but also the Republic of Croatia”.



The newspaper spread, which included reaction from Labour MP Simon Danczuk, prompted concerns about security in Europe following the Paris attacks. Danczuk has not returned calls seeking comment following the Sun apology.

It has also emerged that ITV News has taken down a related online report about Ghessen’s travels, released before the Sun published its spread, titled “Devon film-maker crosses European borders as Syrian refugee to prove how easy it is”.

In the Sun’s report, Ghessen, a Royal Marine for 12 years until 2012, claimed to have crossed from Turkey to Greece by boat with the help of people smugglers. He said he then travelled through the Balkan states – including Croatia – and on to Germany via Austria. In his report about travelling on 24 November, Ghessen wrote that there were “no passport checks” between Zagreb and Munich despite crossing through Austria. When German police finally boarded the train, Ghessen claimed to have hidden in an unlocked toilet. This part of the journey has been found to be untrue.

The report said his journey ended in Paris, where he visited the Bataclan concert hall – the scene of the most deadly of the terror attacks that hit the French capital last month.

The Sun (@TheSun) Sun investigator manages to smuggle himself to Paris without a passport https://t.co/oe2Tf96Zdd pic.twitter.com/yZRfMqiwcg

Croatian authorities almost immediately challenged the story. And the interior minister, Ranko Ostojić, wrote on Facebook that he was glad the police had caught “liars”, who he referred to as “so-called professional journalists”.

The story was then removed from the Sun website over the weekend and the newspaper said it was launching an investigation into its accuracy. This did not stop the story being used by Nigel Farage to criticise the EU for its lax security.



Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) Sun journalist smuggles himself from Turkey to Paris without a passport in six days. We'd be safer outside the EU. https://t.co/65JUicJ9cx

Once the investigation was launched and Ghessen was talked to, the Sun decided to act by lunchtime on Monday, issuing an apology overnight.

In his Facebook apology, Ghessen continued to suggest security was too lax. “Despite believing security within Europe needs tightening after the recent Paris attacks, my independent findings on the security of particular European countries were unfounded and misleading to some readers. My main agenda was to highlight the risks that refugees take to enter Europe.”

The Sun has since said it had come to believe that Ghessen had used his passport at other border crossings. “Contrary to what we were told, and published, Mr Ghessen used his passport to enter and leave the Croatian city of Zagreb.”

The correction said the story “did not, therefore, demonstrate that the borders of Europe had lax controls”. It continued: “We apologise for publishing misleading information. We have now changed our policy regarding the use of freelancers.”

The story, which was co-bylined by a Sun reporter, was understood to be the first time Ghessen had been bylined in the Sun. However, the newspaper said he had worked with the Sun as well as other papers without being bylined.

Five days ago, Ghessen also wrote on his Instagram feed that he was going to be talking about the “refugee crisis and Daesh” in parliament, alongside a picture of him outside the House of Commons.



Post on Emile Ghessen’s Instagram feed. Photograph: Instagram

He also apparently wrote on the “Emile Ghessen on Islamic State” Facebook page: “I had an excellent evening in the House of Commons this evening. I was invited to discuss the refugee crisis and on the situation in Iraq and Syria to a committee. As you all know, the vote will be announced very soon on bombing Daesh in Syria.”

However, details of the committee or event are difficult to find.

Based in Exeter and believed to have a Syrian father, Ghessen also launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a documentary covering fighters on the frontline in Syria. The site suggests he managed to raise only £421 out of his £4,000 goal.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Footage apparently shot by Emile Ghessen inside Iraq

However, footage apparently shot by Ghessen inside Iraq of Kurdish activists fighting Isis is still available on YouTube.

Two weeks ago, a front-page Sun story about Muslim support “for jihadis” prompted nearly 3,000 complaints to the press regulator but the paper continues to stand by its report.