A man was arrested for “flying from London to New York without a passport or boarding pass”

46-year-old Craig Sturt was reportedly arrested on false pretenses after he allegedly took a plane from London to New York without a passport or any other kind of identification.

Around eight in the morning, Stuart was taken into custody in Richmond, southwest London, on charges of missing his court date. Sturt, a Slough native, is charged with entering a British Airways aircraft without the required paperwork on December 23, 2016, at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5. When he returned to London at 8 p.m. on Christmas Day, this strange episode first resulted in his imprisonment.

It has been reported that Sturt got past Heathrow’s security on December 23 by tailgating someone else to get around the check-in procedure and get past security gates. He got through passport control and boarded the airplane that was headed for JFK airport in New York even though he didn’t have a boarding card. Surprisingly, in spite of lacking the necessary paperwork, he managed to secure a seat on the lengthy flight.

Sturt has been accused of a number of crimes by law enforcement, including boarding an aircraft without authorization, being unlawfully airside, and acquiring services by deceit. He was arrested on February 12 for not showing up in court after missing a planned hearing at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on January 22.

British Airways has confirmed that it is assisting the authorities with their inquiry, and a representative for Heathrow Airport has stressed that everyone entering airside facilities must pass through extensive security screening, which includes the person at issue in this unusual circumstance. They reaffirmed their unwavering support for the law enforcement agencies’ ongoing inquiry.