*Roger Bishop.
A THREE-times married 76-year old man paid €6,000 for a fake French ID card to secure the unlawful entry into the State of a then 20-year old African woman he met on dating website lovehabibi.com, a court has heard.
At Ennis Circuit Court, Roger Bishop escaped jail after Judge Francis Comerford imposed a suspended 20 month prison term on him for assisting in the unlawful entry into the State of the Moroccan woman at T1, Dublin airport on March 1st 2024 which is contrary to 6.1. of the Criminal Justice Smuggling of Persons Act 2021.
Judge Comerford said that Mr Bishop “had engaged in serious offending”.
Counsel for Mr Bishop of Little Thatch, Crown, Lissycasey, Co Clare, Kenneth Kerins BL said that Mr Bishop’s unlawful actions in bringing the Moroccan woman into Ireland through a false French ID “were borne out of desperation and loneliness”.
Mr Kerins said that Mr Bishop due to turn 77 in May “was looking for a relationship and someone to take care of him”.
The age gap between the couple in March 2024 was 54 years.
Mr Kerins said that Mr Bishop, a UK national who has lived in Ireland for the past 20-plus years, has already been married three times and was going through a divorce with a Tunisian woman around the time of committing the offence before the courts.
Mr Kerins told the court that Mr Bishop “seems to be unlucky in relationships”.
He said that his client went through a particularly contentious martial breakdown after arriving into Ireland in 2002 with his then wife and two daughters now both aged in their 20s and living abroad.
Investigating Garda in the case, Det Garda Karen Barker from the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) agreed with State Counsel, Sarah Jane Comerford BL that the “tenor of the WhatsApp messages was that there was a romantic relationship between Mr Bishop and the woman”.
Det Garda Barker also agreed with Mr Kerins that there was a level of intimacy between the two in the messages.
Det Garda Barker said that the woman now 22 declined the option of providing a victim impact statement to the court.
Mr Kerins (instructed by solicitor Colum Doherty) said that lovehabibi.com is a legitimate international dating website and that is where the couple met.
He said that the two decided to meet and Mr Bishop – 74 at the time – travelled out to Morocco and they spent some time there “and she agreed to travel to Ireland through the sourcing of the false French ID card”.
Mr Kerins said that the messages show that “it was hopeful at the beginning and they seemed to be getting on and both parties were excited about her arrival”.
Det Garda Barker said that the two came to Ireland on March 1st in a flight originating from Istanbul, Turkey.
Mr Bishop purchased tickets and a French ID card and assisted the woman in travelling to Dublin airport where he presented his passport and the French ID card with her details on it and gained entry.
On arriving back in Clare, Mr Bishop assisted the woman with securing a PPSN number and a 20 hour per week restaurant job.
However, Ms Comerford (instructed by State Solicitor for Clare, Aisling Casey) said that after successfully returning from a trip to Frankfurt on May 29th 2024 on the fake French ID to meet friends, the woman realised then that she didn’t want to remain in the company of Mr Bishop any longer.
The woman subsequently travelled to Luxembourg in June 2024 where authorities determined that the French ID was fake and the woman was sent back to Dublin.
Det Barker said that the woman then applied for asylum here, has been refused and continues to reside here.
The woman returned to Ireland sparked a Garda investigation around the fake French ID and Mr Bishop was arrested by appointment and interviewed at Ennis Garda Station in October 2024.
Det Garda Barker said that at interview Mr Bishop believed that he didn’t do anything wrong.
Ms Comerford said that Mr Bishop entered an early guilty plea and has no previous convictions.
Mr Kerins said that Mr Bishop’s only income is the Old Aged Pension (OAP) and he had a successful career working as an engineer.
He said that Mr Bishop has complex medical needs and is due to undergo a procedure shortly that will result in him convalescing for a number of months.
Mr Kerins said that it is a serious offence and “the sinister element” is the procurement of the false ID card for €6,000.
Mr Kerins said that it is very unlikely that Mr Bishop will re-offend stating that he has led a blameless life before now.
Asked by Judge Comerford did the woman feel exploited, Det Garda Barker said that at the start she was a little bit culpable and she wanted to come to Ireland but she said she couldn’t answer about the woman’s feelings about the relationship.
In sentencing Mr Bishop, Judge Comerford said that there was no evidence of direct exploitation or coercion but said that there was inherent exploitation as there was an inherent imbalance of the economic circumstances between Mr Bishop and the woman.
Judge Comerford said that the woman agreed to come to Ireland with the false ID on the basis of a romantic relationship.
In sentencing Judge Comerford imposed a headline prison term of 36 months in prison on Bishop and reduced to a suspended 20 month prison term due to the significant mitigation in the case.
