Jeremy Meeks, who gained notoriety as the 'hottest criminal in the world' after his mugshot went viral in 2014, has been refused entry to the United Kingdom. The 32-year-old model was detained at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday after arriving from the United States for work purposes.
The Home Office confirmed awareness of the incident but declined to comment on individual cases. Under UK immigration rules, specifically paragraph 320, border officials can deny entry to anyone sentenced to a jail term of between 12 months and four years, until a decade after the sentence ends. Meeks served nearly three years for firearm possession and had previously completed a nine-year sentence for theft.
His manager, Jim Jordan, told the Daily Mail that Meeks carried appropriate paperwork and a letter from his parole officer. 'We went through immigration and they detained Jeremy. He wasn't arrested but they deported him out of the country. He is really upset. He was police-escorted on to the plane,' Jordan said.
Meeks was released from jail last year and quickly signed a modelling contract with White Cross Management. He made his runway debut at New York Fashion Week in February. He and his wife Melissa had been scheduled to attend a party in London on Thursday celebrating his first cover shoot for British magazine Man About Town.
