Passport-bungle tourist spends romantic break in cell
A TOURIST was locked up in a Croatian cell for his entire holiday after border guards discovered he was trying to enter the country with his stepdaughter’s passport.
David Chadwick, 57, had boarded a Ryanair flight from Manchester to Croatia for a romantic five-day break with his wife Alison, 46.
But when he was stopped by border guards after landing at Zagreb Airport, David realised he’d brought his 21-year-old stepdaughter Ketherine’s passport instead of his own.
Without personal identification,
David was detained for his entire holiday in a cell at Zagreb Airport. He was then escorted onto his original flight home and detained by border officials at Manchester, who confirmed his identification based on photos of his passport and driving licence on his phone and let him go home.
David, who lives in Standish, Wigan, with Alison and Katherine, said: “I was simply gutted and embarrassed at the same time. I accept it’s half my fault for picking up the wrong passport, but you’d think that post-9/11, I wouldn’t have been able to board a plane with a female name and photo of my daughter on!
“When I finally got back to the UK, the border force at Manchester Airport couldn’t believe I got to Croatia with the wrong passport.”
A spokesman for Ryanair said: “It is each passenger’s responsibility to ensure they have a correct and valid passport for travel. Our airport handling agents incorrectly allowed this passenger to board and we have liaised with our handling agents in Manchester to ensure this error does not recur.”