UK man accidently uses daughter's passport to travel to Croatia; spends vacation in jail

A man from the UK was forced to spend his entire vacation in Croatia in detention for an embarrassing mistake. As per local reports, David Chadwick was on a Ryanair flight from Manchester to Zagreb for a romantic five-day getaway with his wife. Chadwick thought he was heading on a normal holiday and had not imagined that his entire stay would be inside a cell at the Zagreb Airport. The reason for his detention was that he used his stepdaughter's passport instead of his own to reach the foreign country.   

Chadwick found that he managed to leave Manchester using his stepdaughter's passport to board his flight. He was excited as he boarded a Ryanair flight from Manchester to Croatia for a romantic five-day break with his wife Alison, 46; but, when he was halted by border guards after landing at the Zagreb Airport, David realised he'd brought his stepdaughter's passport instead of his own. Holding just the passport belonging to his stepdaughter, 21-year-old Katherine, and no personal identification, David was detained for his entire holiday in a cell at Zagreb Airport, Manchester Evening News reported.

'I was simply embarrassed': David Chadwick

Talking about his detention David Chadwick, a senior international clinical manager, who lives in Standish with his wife Alison and stepdaughter Katherine, was quoted by Manchester Evening News as saying, "I was simply gutted, and embarrassed at the same time".

"I pride myself in never having the wrong things in hand luggage and always having the correct documentation, so I couldn't believe it had happened. I think our faces said it all. 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," he added

A spokesperson for Ryanair was quoted by Manchester Evening News as saying, "This passenger was detained by Croatian authorities on arrival to Zagreb, following his flight from Manchester (24 April) for failing to travel with his own passport. It is each passenger’s responsibility to ensure they have a correct and valid passport for travel".

The authorities said that the airport handling agents incorrectly allowed David to board and that they have communicated with their handling agents in Manchester to ensure this mistake may not repeat again, Manchester Evening News reported. 

(Image: Unsplash)