Get the inside track on the big stories from Manchester courts with our weekly newsletter A man who used a fake fit-to-fly coronavirus certificate to try and board a plane to Egypt has avoided being jailed.
Emmanuel Nere Mehari, 27, was stopped at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 2 on April 12 and found with the forged document. Mehari pleaded guilty to the charge of possessing or controlling an article for use in fraud at a hearing at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
He was sentenced to a 12-month community order and given 180 hours of unpaid work, as well as a fine of £180. The court heard that Mehari was attempting to visit an unwell relative but had arrived for the flight not knowing a certificate was required, so had paid £50 to