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Reporter competition forty-one entrant

Kevin Ahmetay: 16 months for helping a friend enter Ireland on a false passport

Kevin Ahmetay arrived at Dublin Airport with an old school friend travelling under a false identity. He denied that the two men were connected, but their booking, check-in sequence and the friend’s genuine passport in Ahmetay’s possession told a different story.

Published 31 July 2026 · Remigration Ireland case ledger
5 May 2024Airport interception
1 guilty pleaAssisting unlawful entry
16 monthsFinal sentence
1 UK convictionPrevious record reported

The airport plan

On 5 May 2024, Ahmetay and an unnamed old school friend arrived at Terminal One, Dublin Airport, on a flight from Italy. The friend gave a false name and presented a false Bulgarian passport while seeking entry into the State.

Ahmetay presented a genuine Bulgarian passport in his own name. When questioned, he said there was no connection between him and the other man. Gardaí established that the pair travelled on the same booking and checked in in sequence.

The most revealing document was not the false passport at the control point. Ahmetay was carrying his friend’s genuine Albanian passport. The court was told that he intended to return it after they entered Ireland so the friend could travel onward.

Guilty plea and sentence

Ahmetay, then 26 and of no fixed abode, came before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on a signed guilty plea to one count of unlawfully assisting another person’s entry into the State. He had indicated at an early stage that he would plead guilty.

On 7 November 2024, Judge Martin Nolan set a three-year headline sentence. Taking what he described as Ahmetay’s excellent mitigation into account, he reduced the sentence to 16 months and backdated it to 5 May 2024.

The judge said the sentence required a deterrent element for third parties considering the same course. He also found that Ahmetay was unlikely to reoffend and described him as intelligent, with a good educational history and a good future ahead.

No commercial gain, but deliberate assistance

Garda evidence accepted in cross-examination was that there was no evidence of commercial gain. This record therefore does not establish a paid smuggling business or an organised-crime role.

That limitation does not erase the conduct admitted by the guilty plea: travelling on the same booking, holding the friend’s true passport for later use and assisting an attempted entry under false identity documents. Section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Act 2021 criminalises intentionally assisting another person’s unlawful entry where the assister knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, that the entry breaches a specified provision. Section 10 provides for up to ten years’ imprisonment on indictment.

Previous record and mitigation

The court heard that Ahmetay had lived in the United Kingdom for many years and had one previous UK conviction for producing cannabis, for which he received a suspended sentence. No other conviction was reported.

Defence evidence described him as a university student due to complete his course, with good GCSE results and FETAC awards in technology and applied science. A doctor reported anxiety after Covid-19 and antidepressant treatment. Ahmetay was separated, had a young baby and had received only one family visit since entering custody. A prison governor’s report said he was on an enhanced regime, worked as a cleaner and attended school and the gym. His counsel said he was remorseful, embarrassed and ashamed.

Nationality and status limits

The court report describes Ahmetay as originally from Albania and says he held a Bulgarian passport through his father. The Bulgarian passport he presented in his own name was genuine. His friend’s Albanian passport was also genuine; it was the Bulgarian passport used by the friend at the border that was false.

Ahmetay was convicted of assisting his friend’s entry. The reports reviewed do not say that Ahmetay himself entered illegally, sought asylum or lacked lawful status. They do not identify his Irish residence position, record a protection claim, or report any deportation, removal or exclusion decision.

The friend is not named in the published reports. His arrest, charge, immigration decision, departure or present whereabouts are not established here.

Chronology

Public-cost boundary

The Irish Prison Service reported an average annual cost of €99,072 for an available, staffed prison space in 2024. Applying that annual average mechanically to the 16-month sentence produces a nominal full-term capacity illustration of €132,096.

A separate mechanical illustration assuming 25% remission is 12 months, or €99,072 at the same annual average. Neither figure is an Ahmetay-specific invoice, proof of marginal expenditure, or evidence of the number of days he actually served. The sentence was backdated, and release and remission depend on the applicable legal and administrative rules.

No case-specific figure is published for Garda airport work, immigration processing, prosecution, courts, legal aid, interpretation, healthcare or the imprisonment already served. Those items are therefore left unpriced rather than folded into a speculative total.

Sources

Record checked: 31 July 2026. The three case publications derive from the same court-reporting stream and are not counted as three independent confirmations.