Immigrant who ‘walked nearly entire Channel tunnel’ appears in court

He appeared at Canterbury Crown Court in Kent, charged under an 1861 law on malicious damage with causing an obstruction to an engine or carriage using the railway.

The alleged incident took place from Calais to Britain earlier this month.

The news comes as Europe’s migrant crisis reaches a new level.

The railway tunnel is 31 miles (50 kilometres) long.

Nicholas Jones, defending, told the court that Haroun’s defence would rest on two main planks.

According to British police, he scaled security fences on August 4 – avoiding detection by hundreds of CCTV cameras and search teams with sniffer dogs – and gained access to the tunnel. Little is known about Haroun.

The decision to prosecute Haroun has been criticised by some migrants’ rights groups and lawyers.

Abdul Rahman Haroun is the first person to nearly complete the 50-kilometer (31-mile) journey on foot, before being caught close to the British exit.

Speaking through an Arabic interpreter he pleaded not guilty and was remanded in custody until his next court appearance, due on November 9. It is not clear whether Haroun’s prosecution would make him ineligible to apply for asylum in Britain. “This is an unusual case because of his vast courage in doing the walk, and because he so almost made it”, said Sue Powell of Kent Refugee Help, a small non-governmental group.