Briton 'who wanted to kill Donald Trump' to appear in Las Vegas court

A British man is due to appear in court later accused of trying to grab a police officer's gun in a bid to kill Donald Trump.

Michael Sandford, 20, allegedly attempted to snatch the weapon during a rally at Treasure Island casino in Las Vegas on June 18.

He later told police he had travelled to the Nevada city to kill Mr Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for the US presidential election, according to court documents.

Sandford's mother has voiced fears that her son, who faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted, may try to take his own life in a US jail and called for him to be returned to the UK.

"I would like him to be deported so he can be back in the country and can get psychiatric help and that way he could see the family that still adore him," Lynne Sandford told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme.

"Jail is no place for him. He needs help, but not prison."

Mrs Sandford said her son had been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome when he was 13 and he had previously tried to kill himself. He had to be sectioned as a teenager after suffering from anorexia, she added.

Sandford, from Dorking in Surrey, has been charged him with one count of impeding or disrupting government business and official functions and two counts of being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.

According to Nevada court documents, Sandford told a policeman at the rally that he wanted Mr Trump's autograph before he attempted to seize the officer's gun.

During a police interview, when asked why he attempted to grab the weapon, Sandford replied: "To shoot and kill Donald Trump," the document showed.

He had driven to Las Vegas from Californa on June 16, and went to a shooting range the next day, where he said he learnt how to use a gun for the first time, it is claimed.

Sandford - who had been living in the US for around 18 months - told investigators he expected to die in the attempt on June 18, which he had been planning for a year.

He also claimed to have booked tickets for another Trump rally in Phoenix, Arizona, in case he was unable to attempt to take the billionaire's life in Las Vegas, the documents said.

Sandford, who is in custody, is due to be arraigned when he appears at the Lloyd D. George federal district courthouse in Las Vegas at 3pm local time (11pm BST).