Michael Sandford, the British man imprisoned in the US for attempting to shoot Donald Trump, has returned to the UK, The Independent understands.

Sandford was sentenced by a US court to one year in jail in December for being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm and disrupting an official function, but has seemingly been allowed to return to Britain after less than five months.

The 20-year-old was due to fly back to London on a Delta Airlines flight that landed at Heathrow shortly after 11am on Thursday morning.

It is understood he was due to be met by his parents at the airport. It is unclear if he will serve the remainder of his sentence in the UK.

Sandford, who has autism, attended a Donald Trump rally in Las Vegas in June 2016 and attempted to grab hold of an police officer’s gun.

After being arrested, he told investigators he had been trying to shoot the now US President.

US officials had not announced Sandford was being released.

A Home Office spokesperson said they could not comment on individual cases.

During a hearing last September, a court heard that Sandford entered the US illegally and drove from San Bernardino, California, to the Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas to kill Mr Trump.

Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Show all 33 1 /33 Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first 100 days in office were marred by a string of scandals, many of which caught the eye of the Independent's cartoonists Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Trump's first 100 days have seen him aggressively ramp up tensions with his nuclear rivals in North Korea Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has warned of a "major, major conflict" with the pariah nation lead by Kim Jong Un Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump dropped the "mother of all bombs" on alleged ISIS-linked militants in Afghanistan, amid an escalation of US military intervention around the globe Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has been accused of falling short of the standards set by his predecessors in the Oval Office, including Franklin D Roosevelt Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The 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Sandford allegedly took shooting lessons in the city the day before the rally. His lawyers said he suffered from mental illness and was in the middle of a psychotic episode at the time of the incident.

During the trial, Judge James Mahan told Sandford: “You should not be ashamed or embarrassed about it. You need medication.

“You’re not a hardened criminal. You’re not evil or a sociopath like a lot of people we have.”

Sandford’s mother, Lynne, made an emotional appeal on behalf of her son while he was in custody.

“He means everything to me,” she said. “He made a very bad mistake, a huge error of judgement. It breaks my heart to see him in this environment.”