Failed Ukrainian asylum seeker admits to returning to Malta under assumed name

A Ukrainian man who had returned to Malta under a different name after a court had ordered his removal has been handed a suspended sentence.

Principal Immigration Officer inspector Frankie Sammut told Magistrate Josette Demicoli how Qawra resident Maistryshyn Ihor from Ukraine, who also goes by the name of Skyba Igor, had been removed from Malta in 2016 after his application for asylum was rejected.

But he had made his way back to the islands under a different name after his deportation. Maistryshyn's deception was discovered after he was involved in a car accident and produced a driving licence showing his true identity.

He was charged with failing to seek the permission of the Principal Immigration Officer to land or remain in Malta.

Legal Procurator Peter Paul Zammit, defence counsel to the accused, informed the court that his client would be pleading guilty to the charge.

Maistryshyn later confirmed his guilty plea after the court gave time to reflect.

Inspector Sammut insisted that the man be given a custodial sentence, but this request was not upheld. After finding the man guilty, the court sentenced him to two months' imprisonment, suspended for a year. The court warned him that if he is brought to court again for some other offence in the next year, his prison sentence will come into effect.