Dutch Police Arrest Man With Fake ‘Boris Johnson’ Licence After Drink-Driving Incident

The man, aged 35, was from the small town of Zuidhorn. (AFP Photo)

Dutch police arrested a man on suspicion of drunk driving and were surprised to discover that his driving licence has the name ‘Boris Johnson’. The document was made in Ukraine and had an official portrait of the former UK Prime Minister along with his correct date of birth, according to a report in The Telegraph. The licence was issued in 2019 and valid until the year 3000. Police spokesman Thijs Damstra was quoted as saying by the outlet that the discovery was made by officers investigating a crash shortly after midnight on Sunday.

The car was abandoned but officers were later told that the driver was standing nearby on the bridge.

“The person could not identify himself and refused to undertake a breathanalyser test,” Mr Damstra told news agency AFP.

The man, aged 35, was from the small town of Zuidhorn west of Groningen. After his arrest, the police searched his car.

“Inside, police found a fake driver’s licence belonging to Boris Johnson,” Mr Damstra said.

“Unfortunately for this person, we did not fall for his forgery,” Groningen police said on its Instagram account, as per The Telegraph report.

Police could not say where the forged document was made but public broadcaster NOS journalist and former Russia correspondent Kysia Hekster, in a tweet published by the NOS, said that fake driver’s licences could easy be bought in tourist shops in Ukraine. 

Mr Damstra added, “As far as I’m aware, the real Mr Boris Johnson was not in the Netherlands at the time.”