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Model Jeremy Meeks at New York Fashion Week Monica Schipper/Getty Images

A convicted felon who was catapulted to fame in 2014 after his mugshot went viral has been barred from entering the UK. Jeremy Meeks, whose piercing blue eyes and chiselled looks made him an overnight sensation, was charged with possession of a firearm and sentenced to 27 months in prison.

Upon his release in March 2016, The father-of-two embarked on a fashion career and three months later took to Instagram to post an image of his very first professional modelling headshot after signing a contract with White Cross Management.

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Meeks had travelled to London for fashion shoots with a series of magazines but was turned away by border officials.

According to his manager Jim Jordan, he was detained by UK border officials on arrival to Heathrow Airport on Monday morning ( 25 April) despite having the correct paperwork and a letter signed by his parole officer.

Jordan told the Daily Mail: "We went into the UK and we went through immigration and they detained Jeremy.

"He wasn't arrested but they deported him out of the country. They wouldn't let him come into the country. He is really upset. He was police-escorted onto the plane."

He also alleged that his client was subjected to four hours of interrogation, fingerprinted and strip-searched. "It was his first time in London and he was all excited, it was his big debut. He was on the right track for what we feel was going to be his new life. Now he's very sad. Hopefully, this is just a setback and he will be able to come back from this."

A spokesperson for The Home Office told IBTimes UK that it does not comment on individual cases. However, the UK's immigration rules states that a person can be denied entry if they have been "convicted of an offence for which they have been sentenced to a period of imprisonment of at least 12 months but less than 4 years, unless a period of 10 years has passed since the end of the sentence."