A man was caught using a false ID after the real owner googled his own name and discovered the accused had used his identity when he was arrested and charged with theft.

Aziz Kaiwa (24) of St Margaret’s Road, Swords, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to five counts of possession of a false document without lawful excuse at various locations in Dublin between January 27 and September 28, 2013.

The fake ID contained Kaiwa’s photo, but the name of a French national, who was a DCU student studying business.

Judge Patricia Ryan dismissed the sentence and applied the Probation Act due to the ‘very unusual circumstances’ of the case and ordered Kaiwa to keep the peace for six months. This means that he does not have a criminal conviction.

Derek Cooney BL, prosecuting, told the court that the real owner of the identity was on a night out in Dublin in late 2012 when he discovered his wallet and iPhone were missing.

The man reported the theft to the gardaí and told them there were several bank cards in his wallet as well as a French national identity card.

Kaiwa later came into possession of an ID, copied from the the real owner’s stolen national identity card.

He passed it off as his own identity on several occasions, including when stopped by gardai on April 6 in College Street, and when being treated at St James’ Hospital for injuries on April 23, 2013.

Garda David Heraghty said that, Kaiwa, was arrested for a separate incident of theft of a mobile phone on September 28, 2013.

He presented the fake ID card, gave the name of the victim and was put into custody. The matter came to court and Kaiwa signed a bail bond under the victim’s name.

An article was then published in The Herald newspaper stating that the the real owner had been found guilty of mobile phone theft, which he happened to read himself after googling his name.

Becoming alarmed, he went to the gardai and as a result it came to light that Kaiwa had been using a fake ID card.

Garnet Orange SC, defending, told the court that Kaiwa is originally from Western Sahara in Africa. He came to Ireland in early 2012 seeking asylum.

He told gardai that when Kaiwa came to Dublin he met someone who told him to use a fake ID so he could stay in the country.

Kaiwa had showed up at St James' Hospital on April 23, 2013, with serious stab wounds, which he claimed to have received from the man who gave him the fake ID card.

Mr Orange asked Judge Ryan to take into account the fact that the man made no financial gain from using the card, was not accused of stealing the card and is currently seeking asylum in Ireland.

Kaiwa has already served a total of 10 months in prison, for the phone theft and fake ID charges. .

He has two previous convictions in Ireland including theft, and has nine foreign convictions.

Online Editors