02 May 2023 , 12:57
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A man arrested on suspicion of drink driving was posing as former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Dutch police have revealed.
The fake Ukrainian document had a photo of Mr Johnson plus his correct birth date.
It was “issued” in 2019 and is valid until the end of the year 3000.
Police said on Instagram: “Unfortunately for this person, we did not fall for his forgery."
Thijs Damstra, police spokesman, said the discovery came after officers were called to the site of a crash shortly after midnight on Sunday, in which a car hit a pole near the Emma Bridge in the northern city of Groningen.
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The car was abandoned but officers were later told that the driver was standing nearby on the bridge.
The real Boris Johnson pictured (Getty Images)“The person could not identify himself and refused to undertake a breathalyser test. Inside, police found a fake driver's licence belonging to Boris Johnson,” Mr Damstra told news agency AFP.
The 35-year-old man, from the small town of Zuidhorn west of Groningen, was arrested and police searched his car.
Mr Damstra added: “As far as I'm aware, the real Mr Boris Johnson was not in the Netherlands at the time.”
A former Russia correspondent working for the Dutch public broadcaster NOS said such fake licences could be bought in tourist shops in Ukraine.
"I have [seen] them from [former German chancellor Angela] Merkel and [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, among others," Kysia Hekster tweeted.