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Gatwick was chef's home
Jonathan Prynn, Consumer Affairs Editor19.02.08
A homeless chef who made Gatwick Airport his home for more than three years is behind bars for breaching an Asbo banning him from the site.
Lewes Crown Court heard that, in scenes similar to the 2004 Steven Spielberg-directed film, The Terminal, starring Tom Hanks, Anthony Delaney, 43, ate, showered and slept at the West Sussex airport.
He rarely left its south terminal and then only to collect his Jobseeker's Allowance.
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.
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 and a year later he was officially banned under airport authority by-laws. But he continued to defy the ban and returned to Gatwick to live.
The former chef 's lawyer Peter Knight said: "It was a well-paid job and they provided accommodation for him, so when he lost the job he not only had to find new employment but a place to live as well. He moved back to Sussex, where he has lived most of his life, and found it very difficult to support himself or find a new job without a permanent address."
Mr Knight said he started using the facilities at the airport out of desperation, and became trapped in a cycle of misfortune.
"When he is released from custody, it is usually in the middle of the night and he has nowhere to go, so he retreats back to the airport. But as soon as he is spotted, he gets taken back into custody - and so it goes on.
"Mr Delaney has been using the airport to stay clean, dry and warm. He doesn't go there to make a nuisance of himself. He just needs somewhere he can have a shower. He desperately wants to set himself up for the future - to find a job and somewhere to live. But it's easier said than done."
An Asbo banning him from the airport and its railway station was imposed on him in 2006 and remains in force until 2011.
Yesterday he pleaded guilty to breaching his order for a third time.
Judge R ichard Haywa rd remanded him in custody to be sentenced on 10 March, saying he believed the urge Delaney faced to go back to Gatwick would be too strong. The judge said: "It is a bit cheeky to go straight back to Gatwick. There are other places you can have a shower. "
A BAA Gatwick spokeswoman declined to comment on the case.
In The Terminal, Tom Hanks plays an eastern European tourist Viktor Navorski who becomes resident in New York's JFK airport when his passport becomes void.
Paul Young, founder of homeless charity Off the Fence, said: "It's sad when someone feels sleeping in an airport is the only option."
