Lawyer for Trump attack suspect wants him returned to UK

LONDON – A lawyer for a British man accused of trying to grab a police officer’s gun to shoot Donald Trump said Tuesday that she hopes a deal can be struck to send him back to Britain for mental-health treatment rather than facing trial in the U.S.

Michael Sandford was arrested June 18 during a Trump rally in Las Vegas and is due to go on trial Aug. 22. He has pleaded not guilty to charges including disrupting an official function and firearms possession.

Sandford’s family and lawyers say the 20-year-old has Asperger’s syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder, depression and other mental-health issues.

Lawyer Saimo Chahal told reporters Tuesday that Sandford’s team is commissioning an independent mental health report which they hope to present to U.S. authorities as part of a plea bargain.

Chahal said “what we very much hope is that there won’t be a trial. Our best aim is for Michael to be repatriated back to the U.K. before he is sentenced.”

Sandford’s mother Lynne Sandford, who has launched a crowdfunding appeal to pay for her son’s legal fees, said he did not fully appreciate the gravity of what he had done.

“I accept that Michael has tried to do a bad thing, but he is mentally ill and is not a bad or dangerous person,” she said.

“Michael is extremely vulnerable and I don’t think he will survive being incarcerated in a U.S. prison if he has to serve his sentence there.”