Homeless man 'lived in airport'

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A homeless chef who ate, showered and slept at Gatwick Airport for more than three years has admitted breaching an Asbo banning him from the site.

Anthony Delaney, 43, made the West Sussex airport his home in scenes similar to the 2004 Spielberg-directed film, The Terminal, starring Tom Hanks.

Lewes Crown Court heard that he only left the airport's south terminal to collect his Jobseeker's Allowance.

He was remanded in custody to be sentenced on 10 March.

The court heard that Delaney did not suffer from mental health issues, was neither a drug nor alcohol addict and did not cause any problems.

Railway station ban

He is said to have told his barrister that he was happier staying there because he was "clean, dry and warm".

Delaney first started living at the airport in 2004, but despite being officially banned under airport authority by-laws a year later, he continued to stay there.

An Asbo banning him from the airport and its railway station was imposed on him in 2006, which remains in force until 2011.

Appearing at Lewes Crown Court on Monday, he pleaded guilty to breaching his order for a third time.

Judge Richard Hayward remanded him in custody, saying he believed the urge he faced to go back to Gatwick would be too strong.

He said: "It is a bit cheeky to go straight back to Gatwick. There are other places you can have a shower. This is just going on and on. It is all very strange."

A BAA Gatwick spokeswoman declined to comment on the case.

In the movie The Terminal, Hanks stars as a passenger who lives in New York's Kennedy airport after being stranded there because of political upheaval in his homeland.