Yes - Tommy Robinson, the leader of the English Defence League, was found guilty of travelling to the USA, while identifying himself using a friend's passport. This in order to stay for one day, to attend a rally in memory of the September 11 attacks, before heading back to Britain. Quite possibly the shortest voluntary stay for an illegal immigrant in the history of the USA.
Usually, the punishment for illegal immigrants, if any, is deportation - although Britain is known for rewarding them with large benefits - and when they're found guilty of holding false passports, the courts even allow them to retain their fraudulently-acquired flats. Not so for Tommy Robinson, however - for his troubles, he ended up getting a 10-month prison sentence. This, in Britain, is longer than the sentence for more than half of all burglars.
At the same time, the London rapper Dappy is in the process of being charged with three counts of assault, as well as affray, for an incident in which 2 girls were spat at, followed by 3 men sustaining serious facial injuries (one of whom had 9 teeth missing). Dappy is alleged to have committed both the spitting and the assaults...
It will be interesting to see what the British justice system regards as the more serious: causing serious facial injuries and lifelong damage, or entering another country illegally, for a period of one day, before returning.
But then, Dappy is no ordinary thug. In his own words, he said that the Guardian was his favourite newspaper. And in 2011, the Guardian was all-too-eager to repay him with a long interview, giving him some much-needed free publicity... Will we see them give similar red-carpet treatment to someone else falling foul of the law - Tommy Robinson? I won't hold my breath...
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