EDL leader jailed for using friend's passport

[mikerr]

The leader of the English Defence League has been jailed for 10 months for using someone else's passport to travel to the United States.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/ja...ed-passport-us

Heh irony



What I don't understand is this:

Lennon, who had previously been refused entry to the US, used his friend Andrew McMaster's passport to travel to New York in September. He used a self-check-in kiosk to board the flight at Heathrow, and was allowed through when the document was checked in the bag-drop area.

But when he arrived at JFK, customs officials who took his fingerprints realised he was not McMaster. Lennon was asked to attend a second interview but left the airport, entering the US illegally.

He stayed one night and travelled back to the UK using his own passport, which bears the name Paul Harris. The EDL leader uses several aliases.

Why didn't US customs immediately detain him ?

Just "asked him to attend a scond interview " , which he didn't ?!

[jim]

Yeah, on the occasions I've been to the US, "soft-touch" is not a phrase I'd associate with their border guards.

I found it a bit bizarre that he only stayed one day as well, but I guess he decided to jump ship before they started shooting at him.

Also, why is he using a false name for the EDL? Or does he fear retribution?

So many questions

[chuckskull]

If he'd been caught in America illegally, he'd of been waiting that long on remand before a court saw him most likely+a much sterner sentence, ironically enough because of how similar their politics are to his. Legging it was probably sensible, relatively speaking.

I saw a documentary, proud and prejudiced http://www.channel4.com/programmes/p...es-1/episode-1 (not available at the mo). He was getting death threats etc, he even got smacked in the gob right in front of the TV camera's by his opposite. Quite a good docu if it ever comes back on 4oD, don't count on it though they have a habit of removing them forever the second anyone complains.