As the threat level in the UK remains at severe, it will come as a shock to some to hear that a holidaymaker from Merseyside was able to travel through multiple security checkpoints without even using his own passport.
40-year-old Steven Wilson went to Lisbon on a lads’ holiday with a group of friends, including his 43-year-old sibling Carl, but when the gang of mates prepared to leave their hotel room in Portugal, Steven accidentally picked up his brother’s passport.
Despite the passport having a completely different name than that on his boarding pass, Steven was able to get past four checkpoints without anybody noticing the error at a time when a terrorist attack in the UK is considered ‘highly likely’, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Speaking to the Echo, Steven’s wife Michelle said:
My husband only realised when he arrived home and I took the passport off him to return it for safe keeping.
In light of recent events in Paris and Belgium, I assumed airport security was a top priority within Europe. Obviously not.
The names were different. Surely that should have raised some alarm bells? It’s awful. It’s not just the fact his name is on the boarding card and it’s different to the one on the passport. He doesn’t even look like his brother!
My husband was travelling on his own as well. You would have thought security would pay more attention to a lone passenger.
Not to fearmonger but it has to be said.
When Europe has been subject to some of the worst terrorist attacks of all time just months prior to this news, you would think that our security would be far stricter and tighter than Steven has proven it to be.
