Jail for Anthony Delaney after he lived at Gatwick airport for three years

From The Times, august 23, 2008
Jail for Anthony Delaney after he lived at Gatwick airport for three years

A homeless chef who lived at Gatwick for three years was jailed yesterday for repeatedly breaking an antisocial behaviour order banning him from the airport.

Anthony Delaney, 43, who was sentenced to 15 months in prison, had moved to Gatwick in 2004 and ate, slept and showered there in a manner similar to Tom Hanks's character in the Steven Spielberg film The Terminal. But in 2006 he was barred from entering the airport until 2011 after he was convicted of stealing from passengers and an airport store.

Over the next two years he was caught breaking the ASBO three times, and in January this year he was jailed for 95 days. He was released immediately because of the time he had already spent on remand, and within a few hours he was found at Gatwick again, breaking the order for a fourth time. On June 3 he broke the order again and was arrested.

Judge Richard Hayward, at Lewes Crown Court, said that the goodwill he had for Delaney when he came before him for the first time had now vanished. “I must confess that on that occasion I felt some sympathy for your position. It was a situation that attracted some publicity at the time and I wondered if it was appropriate that an ASBO be given for that sort of offence,” he said. “Further information painted a different picture.”

Ahmed Hossain, Delaney's lawyer, said that his client, a former chef, was trapped in a vicious circle of unemployment and homelessness. Delaney had attended two job interviews at an hotel, he said, and had gone to the airport only to shower and smarten his appearance in case of another one.

Judge Hayward said that he was not convinced that Delaney had tried hard enough to find a job and accommodation. “One has to comment that people come to this country from all over the world and very often they seem to have found themselves a job straight away, particularly in catering,” he said.

He said that a prison sentence was in order because of Delaney's previous convictions.