Briton Michael Sandford jailed over plan to shoot Donald Trump
A British man has been sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison over his attempt to grab a gun in a bid to kill Donald Trump
Police remove Michael Sandford after he attempted to grab a police officer’s gun at a Trump rally in Las Vegas (Photo: AP)
A 20-year-old Briton has been jailed for 12 months by a Las Vegas court for trying to grab a police officer’s gun at a Donald Trump rally in June.
Michael Steven Sandford, who has autism, tried to get the weapon at a Las Vegas casino where Trump was addressing supporters during the presidential campaign.
He allegedly told officers after his arrest that he planned to shoot Trump.
Sandford, of Dorking, Surrey, pleaded guilty in September to being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm and disrupting an official function.
He could have faced up to 20 years in prison if he had been convicted at trial of both charges.
Judge James Mahan told him: “You have a medical problem. You should not be ashamed or embarrassed about it. You need medication.
“You’re not a hardened criminal. You’re not evil or a sociopath like a lot of people we have. I don’t think you wanted to kill anybody. This was just some crazy stunt that your mind told you to do.”
A tearful Sandford told the court: “I know saying sorry is not enough. I really do feel awful about what I did. I wish there was some way to make things better. I have cost taxpayers so much money. I feel terrible.”
Addressing the judge, he added: “I’m really sorry to you and the court for taking up so much time.”
As he has already been in custody since being arrested, he is not expected to have to spend a further 12 months behind bars.
Sandford did not get hold of the gun before he was arrested, and no shots were fired.
Court documents say that Sandford told a federal agent that he drove from California to Las Vegas with a plan to kill Trump.
His UK lawyer, Saimo Chahal, QC, of Bindmans, had argued that Sandford was delusional at the time.
The court papers also stated that Sandford had gone to a gun range in Las Vegas to learn how to fire a gun, which he had not done before.
Sandford told police he had been in the US for 18 months before the incident. He was unemployed, living out of his car and in the US illegally.
As well as autism, he also has obsessive compulsive disorder, severe depression, seizures, cardiac issues and Crohn’s disease, according to his family.
“Michael’s actions were completely out of character. He is an extremely vulnerable young man and we believe that he needs to return to the UK in order to serve his sentence,” his mother wrote.
