Published: Thursday, 25th June, 2009 3:50pm

Stowaway found on Army coach

by Jonathan Kelly

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AN ILLEGAL immigrant was found inside a prestigious military academy after stowing away on an Army coach.

The man, originally from Afghanistan, snuck onto the coach as it brought a number of officers and NCOs to Sandhurst Military Academy from a barracks in Hameln, Germany.

It is believed that the man, whose age is uncertain, boarded the coach as it waited in Calais, and then hid in the stairwell by the toilet and was not discovered until the bus emptied inside the officer training academy on Wednesday, June 17.

In a statement, a spokesman for the MoD said: 'We can confirm that an individual was discovered onboard a coach within the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst having stowed onboard during the coach"s transit from Germany. The coach was provided and driven by a civilian contractor who has responsibility for the security of their vehicle.

'Security officers in all Army establishments have been informed and reminded of security procedures to reduce the risk of a further incident of this nature.'

It is understood that when the bus arrived at Sandhurst it was whisked through security without being searched and that the stowaway was only spotted by a corporal and lance corporal as they got off the bus.

They immediately detained him and Thames Valley Police were called.

After his arrest, the man was handed over to officials from the UK Border Agency.

A spokesman for the agency said: 'As soon as this individual was discovered he was taken into custody, detained and finger-printed so he could be checked against a range of criminal and immigration watch-lists.

'People with no right to be in the UK will be removed at the earliest opportunity.'

Head of the Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, was said to be 'incandescent' at the breach of security and has now ordered a top-level inquiry into how this could have happened.

The breach comes four years after military bosses ordered security to be tightened at the academy after The Sun newspaper smuggled a reporter into the college while Prince Harry was studying there.