Armed US man again caught at port

The man tried to enter through Portsmouth but was sent back

A suspected illegal immigrant armed with a hunting knife has been caught trying to enter the UK through the same Hampshire port twice in four days.

The American man first tried to enter Portsmouth on a ferry from France on 9 October, the UK Border Agency said.

He said he had no contact in the UK, no return ticket and officers found and confiscated a large hunting knife from his bag. He was sent back to France.

Four days later the 39-year-old returned on another ferry from France.

This time he changed his story and said he was expected by a female sponsor, a spokesperson said.

'Abuse systems'

When questioned he could not provide a name for her, only a mobile number, which was not answered.

Again, he was sent back on the ferry to France.

A spokesperson for the UK Border Agency said: "This man has clearly tried to abuse our systems by trying to come into the UK when he had no right to do so.

"He tried to use two different stories to get entry and it's very likely that his plan was to come here to work illegally.

"Our highly trained officers at Portsmouth recognised flaws in his stories and questioned him thoroughly, refusing him entry.

"Last year we searched more than 1,000,000 lorries and prevented 18,000 individual attempts to breach the UK Border at our overseas controls."