Migrant travels 320 miles from London to St Ives to break into £750k holiday cottage and lives there for days until ‘horrified’ owners find him making dinner in their kitchen

When a wealthy businessman visited his luxurious second home in Cornwall, he was furious to find an illegal immigrant living inside.

The father-of-two, who wished to remain anonymous, arrived at the £750,000 property in St Ives with his family and noticed a broken window.

When she entered the front door, she was stunned to see the intruder, Saidahmed-Hamid Ghalem, 28, preparing a meal in the kitchen.

Ghalem, whose last address was in the Docklands area of ​​east London, had been living in the beach hut for several days.

The owner, who lives in the West Midlands but rented the fishing lodge through a luxury holiday site, was said to be ‘horrified’ when he found the man.

He is now considering legal action against the authorities for failing in their duty to deal with illegal immigrants.

Second homes in a Cornish haven are in high demand despite objections from locals who say they are killing the area’s soul

A relative told the Daily Mail: ‘The person involved in this incident was subject to a deportation order, so why was he still in the country?’

‘He was shocked and horrified to find her at the holiday home he had visited during the half-term break.’

The family source added: ‘This is her holiday home and she found this strange man cooking in her kitchen, but I’m not sure what happened.

‘He had been living there for a few days.

‘She told the man to leave the house and did so a few days later, but the man was seen begging in a nearby street.

‘He was a homeless refugee who had come from London to try his luck as there were many vacant properties unused at this time of year.’

Ghalem, 28, who recently pleaded guilty to criminal damage and trespass at Truro Magistrates’ Court, was ordered to pay £1,000 compensation. Falmouth Package reported.

The source said: ‘He doesn’t have the money to pay it back.’

Neighbors said the 50-year-old homeowner and his family were so shocked by the break-in that they fled to another property in Falmouth before returning the next morning to repair the damage.

Colin Nicholls, owner of Colenso, a nearby hardware store, said: ‘He told me he had just broken in and had to close the window, but this morning I heard the asylum seeker had moved in.

The homeowner’s neighbors claim they were just as shocked as he was when they learned the truth

One of them told the Mail they witnessed police arriving on the sleepy road to remove the migrant.

‘It must have been very bad for them. I think they asked the man to leave, so he left, but he tried to come back a few days later.

‘He told me they decided not to stay and went to Falmouth instead.

‘I think he took it in good spirits and was quite measured in his approach.

‘I’m guessing he’s quite successful and normally deals with bigger things than this, he told me they weren’t going to let this ruin their weekend.

‘I’ve seen him before, he’s a really nice guy and he comes here every few weeks with his wife.

‘I don’t think other second home owners need to worry, this is an isolated incident and most houses are so close together that it would be very difficult to get in without being noticed.’

There was no sign of the couple in their four-bed semi-detached holiday home when the Mail visited this week, but a neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: ‘A friend of mine witnessed the man being taken away by the police.

‘All I know is that she climbs in through the window and cooks for herself.’

The refuge of choice for migrants made headlines this summer for many worrying reasons.

Just last month, residents of the region’s top destination told the Daily Mail they had noticed a huge drop in earnings and a drop in tourists this year due to excessive anti-tourist and second-home ownership energy.

They claimed a perfect storm of anti-tourist sentiment, unreliable weather, second homes and price rises was pushing the vital British market to overseas rivals such as Spain, Italy and Greece.

“You always see people complaining about tourists, but this is important to us,” said waitress Ella Erijota.

‘I’ve noticed a huge drop in visitor numbers this summer and it’s worrying.

‘Cornwall relies on tourism and needs it to survive.’

Last year Cornwall faced its worst summer visitor numbers in a decade and this summer is not expected to be much better (pictured: St Ives Port looks pretty empty)

Shop owners and residents in St Ives, the borough’s top destination, told the Daily Mail they had noticed a huge drop in earnings and fewer tourists this year (image: One of many empty streets in St Ives)

A crude 1.8 meter long banner written in black paint on a white board was held by three men to welcome tourists arriving in Cornwall

A perfect storm of anti-tourism sentiment, unreliable weather, second homes and price rises is pushing the vital British market to overseas rivals, Cornish people claim

“It’s been a lot quieter this year, I’ve definitely noticed a drop in tourism,” St Ives resident and store worker Charlotte Cooper said.

Ms Cooper, along with several other business owners, revealed they had noticed a significant drop in earnings this summer.

‘I blame overpriced holiday homes for deterring tourists. Here you can get an all-inclusive holiday abroad for the same price as renting a house for a few days.

‘And the money people spend on hostels doesn’t even go into the town, it goes to the owners elsewhere.’

He added: ‘There are almost no jobs outside of tourism, so if you haven’t earned enough money over the summer you’ll struggle for the rest of the year.’

The decline in visitor numbers in Cornwall mirrors similar trends in Spain, where a relentless anti-tourism protest campaign is ‘scaring visitors’.

A Home Office Spokesperson said: ‘It is our long-standing policy not to comment on individual cases, but when foreign nationals commit serious crimes in our country we will always do everything we can to deport them.

‘This government deported almost 5,200 foreign national criminals in its first year in office; This is a 14% increase on the previous year and we will continue to do everything we can to clear these vile criminals from our streets.’