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The mum of the British man accused of trying to assassinate Donald Trump has told how she fears her son will die in prison.

Lynne Sandford said her 20-year-old son Michael has a ‘very young emotional age’ - adding that he still watches kids’ cartoon Peppa Pig.

Sandford is accused of trying to grab a policeman’s gun at a rally in Las Vegas in June.

(Image: PA) (Image: ITV)

Officials claimed Sandford, who is autistic, said his plan was ‘to shoot and kill Donald Trump’.

He is currently being held on suicide watch in a Las Vegas prison as he faces up to 30 years in jail.

Sandford has pleaded not guilty to charges of disrupting government business and official functions and being an illegal alien in possession of a gun.

(Image: ITV) (Image: Reuters) (Image: Reuters)

Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain (MUST KEEP) yesterday (TUES) Lynne Sandford said: “I fear my son will die in prison, he’s tried to commit suicide before and there’s no way he could cope with being in a mainstream prison for 30 years.

“He’s got a very young emotional age, he’s still watching Peppa Pig, that’s not a callous cold-hearted person, he’s ill, he needs to come back here for help and he needs to see his family...he needs his family to help him get better.”

She added: “He didn’t know what he was doing. I don’t think for one minute he can [kill Donald Trump], he’s just not capable of that.

“He’s ill, he’s very emotionally young, he wouldn’t have understood the consequences of what he was doing.

(Image: PA) (Image: Reuters)

“It was just a very bizarre attempt. I mean if you were going to kill someone you wouldn’t go about doing it like that, especially if you have tremors in your hands.”

Gun-obsessed Sandford, who was diagnosed with autism as a child, was arrested by Secret Service agents at the Treasure Island Casino’s Mystere (corr) Theatre in June.

The Brit, from Dorking, Surrey, was in America on an expired Visa when he is alleged to have carried out his failed attack.

The Robot Wars fan had visited a gun range in Las Vegas the day before his foiled plot to learn how to shoot.

Following his arrest he told police he expected to die in the assassination attempt.

Ms Sandford is now campaigning to raise money to bring her son back to the UK and serve any potential sentence in a psychiatric hospital in the UK instead of the United States.

So far she has raised almost £21,000 towards his legal fees.

Sandford is due to go on trial in Las Vegas later this month.

His mum told how only recently she has finally been allowed to speak to her son on the phone.

She said: “I’ve finally been able to establish phone conversations with him [Michael] in the last few days and he’s not at all good.

“He’s very bewildered, very scared and frightened, he’s on suicide watch which he’s been for three weeks and he just kept breaking down on the phone saying he can’t cope.

“There’s no excusing that what he did or attempted to do was a bad thing, but he is not a bad person, he’s got autism, OCD, anorexia, depression, anxiety; so there are a lot of mental health issues at play, he’s ill.

“I’m not saying he shouldn’t have a custodial sentence whatsoever, but he needs to be brought back here to have it so he can get help ‘because that’s what he needs.”

Sandford had moved to the States on a tourist visa after falling in love with an American girl he met in Surrey.

Asked why, with his known problems, she let him travel across the Atlantic, Ms Sandford said: “I desperately tried to stop him.

“I contacted our health GP, police, mental health services, and they were all very very concerned as well but they said ‘he’s 18, he’s an adult, he can do what he wants’.”

The Trump camp also spoke for the first time about the attempted shooting.

The billionaire’s campaign spokesperson, Erin Elmore said: “I think when you’re a public figure and then you become the presidential candidate and now the Republican nominee it’s obviously a big difference in your public life and how you’re seen publicly, so I know he’s upped his security immensely.

“I think that luckily this effort was thwarted before it got to him so seriously and as you mentioned the crowd, many in that crowd weren’t even aware it occurred.

“But now he’s got Secret Service and he is really well protected.”