Frederick Cham jailed for smuggling people through Dublin Airport

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Frederick Cham was jailed for four years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for helping to smuggle people illegally into the country. The proceedings were reported on 7 February 2018.

Cham pleaded guilty to five charges of facilitating the entry into the State of a person who was an illegal immigrant or seeking asylum at Dublin Airport between 13 December 2016 and 22 January 2017. He also admitted two charges of handling money he knew to be the proceeds of crime on dates in December 2016 and January 2017.

The Aer Lingus ground handler and another employee helped foreign nationals bypass passport control using staff swipe cards to access an unattended employee gate. Judge Martin Nolan called it a serious and devious crime and backdated the four-year sentence to January 2017, when Cham was arrested.

Sean Gillane SC, defending, told the court there was no evidence of exploitation or intimidation of the people being smuggled into the country. Cham had no previous convictions.