Parents, baby arrested after attempting to board catamaran using fake passports

A 30-year-old Sudanese father, a 20-year-old Eritrean mother together with their months-old baby were arrested on Sunday after presenting falsified Norwegian passports before boarding the Sicily-bound catamaran.

The accused admitted to possession of illegal documents, with the Eritrean mother reiterating lack of awareness of the falsified passports.

The arrest was carried out in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The Sudanese pled that he had no knowledge of the illegality of the documents prior to presenting them at passport control.

The couple filed an early guilty plea while the court, presided over by magistrate Nadine Lia, sentenced the father to a six-month effective jail term, while giving the mother a suspended sentence of two years.

Committing another offence within this term would potentially earn her an equal effective term as her the father. 

Inspector Hubert Gerada headed the prosecution.