David Baker says attempts to get explanation about airport questioning have failed

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A university professor has hit out at the Home Office after being stopped about 100 times in seven years at airports despite having no criminal record.

Prof David Baker, a specialist in neuroimmunology at Queen Mary University in London, who has carried out pioneering work into treatments for conditions such as multiple sclerosis and travels frequently for his work, was once stopped three times in a single week by Border Force officials at airports.

Prof David Baker

Baker, 57, has never been arrested and after being diverted from an automated gate to an official he has been allowed to travel. His repeated attempts to get an explanation from the Home Office about why he is continually stopped and questioned at airports have failed.

He questioned the safety and reliability of the Home Office’s security databases, saying that he is being confused with one or more individuals with the same name.

“I started asking questions and got evasion most times. On a number of instances I was told it was my name, and not me,” he said.

“On one occasion I was told that I have the same name as a drug dealer and would never get into the UK without being stopped. Surely I have a right to know why I am being stopped.

“If I am not the issue, there must be a solution. A biometric passport must be able to carry sufficient information to show that I am not the criminal they are trying to track.”

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Baker has found media reports relating to four other David Bakers who have convictions for drugs and/or violence offences. However, none have the same date or place of birth as him.

He is so frustrated by his frequent stops for no apparent legitimate reason while travelling that he is contemplating changing his name by deed poll.

“This is driving me nuts,” he said. “The Home Office is not admitting that there is a problem. It’s a real pain for anyone I travel with, too. While they go through the gates I am stopped and taken aside.”

Baker has sometimes been stopped at airports even before he reaches the facial recognition cameras, so he believes the flaw is not with this technology.

Baker’s case follows that of Antonio Heslop, an innocent Jamaican man whom the Home Office accused of being a convicted drug dealer and threatened with deportation. The Home Office later apologised to him and said it was a case of mistaken identity.

Last week government officials confirmed that Heslop had satisfied all checks on him and that they would issue his biometric residence permit in the coming days.

A Home Office spokesman said: “Border Force’s priority is to maintain security on the border at all times, which is why all those arriving in the UK are examined and checked against Home Office databases.

“Our ePassport gates work by using facial recognition technology as well as biographical and security checks. There are a number of technical and security reasons why a passport may fail to be accepted at automated border controls.”

The spokesman added that they did not routinely comment on individual cases.