Police are investigating the removal of a young man’s passport by Dundee nightclub staff after revelations in the Courier.
Christopher Gordon’s passport disappeared last Saturday night after it was seized from him by workers at London nightclub who did not believe it belonged to him.
He was told to pick it up at Bell Street police station the following day but there is no record of the 18-year-old’s passport having been handed in.
The Meadowside nightclub claimed on Monday they passed it over to the police on the same night it was taken but while licensed premises are permitted to check identification like passports, they are prohibited from retaining such documents.
Christopher’s stepmother Allison Honeyman (47) said they were planning to report the passport as stolen after it still hadn’t turned up by Monday night — nine days after the incident.
“We were at the police station this morning and it still hadn’t turned up,” she said. “I guess we will just have to see what happens.
“I work for local government and even if we believe a passport is fraudulent we cannot take it. We would contact police with the details and an address but that is all we can do.
“I don’t think the staff at London have the power to take such an important government document. I would have thought the police would be summoned to the premises to check whether it was stolen or not.”
A spokesman for London nightclub defended their actions, saying they were acting on police advice.
He said a member of staff “flagged down” a police van outside the club and handed over the passport to an officer, whose number has been passed on to the family.
He said, “We log everything that happens and an incident report has been completed. Occasionally we come across folk using other people’s ID and we would usually pass them on to the police.”
A Tayside Police spokeswoman said no passport in the name of Christopher Gordon had been handed in and, given the length of time the passport has been missing, should it be handed in it would be sent back to the UK Passport Agency to ensure it had not been used fraudulently.
“Staff at licensed premises have the right to ask for and check identification of patrons but do not have the right to confiscate or retain identification. The matter has been reported to Tayside Police and is currently under inquiry,” she said.