A grandmother visiting her family in Bermuda was barred from entering the Island by “heavy-handed” Immigration officials who treated her “like a common criminal”.

And Anne Robinson has now written to Governor George Fergusson to complain about her “horror” experience at the hands of “ruthless and incompetent” officials who put her on a plane to Florida when she had few possessions, no money and no cell phone.

Ms Robinson’s ordeal began in December when she arrived in Bermuda from the UK to visit her daughter and granddaughter.

On arrival, she was informed by airport Customs and Immigration staff that, although visitors are usually allowed to stay for 90 days, her permit was only valid for three weeks.

Ms Robinson later contacted the Department of Immigration and was told that her name had been “red flagged” after someone had made anonymous allegations that the 61-year-old intended to seek employment while in Bermuda.

“I was told that an investigation was conducted and the accusation was found to be groundless, which was demonstrated by my being given an extension of 90 days until March 17, 2013,” Ms Robinson said.

Ms Robinson then learnt that she could apply for an Annual Residency Certificate (ARC) which would enable her to remain here for 12 months. She left the Island just before her 90-day permit expired and travelled to the US to obtain documents needed to support her ARC application.

Ms Robinson returned to Bermuda on March 21 and was shocked to discover that her stay on the Island would once again be limited to 21 days.

“Obviously the ‘red flags’ against my name in their computer had not been removed,” she said.

Following another meeting with Immigration, Ms Robinson had her permit extended to 90 days, allowing her to remain on the Island until June 21. She was also told by senior officers that if she submitted her ARC application before that date, she could remain here indefinitely while a decision on her application was made.

She submitted her application on June 20 but a week later her daughter received a call from the Immigration Department demanding that Ms Robinson leave the Island as her permit had expired.

“He terrified her with his aggression and threatened to have me deported immediately,” Ms Robinson said.

As a result, Ms Robinson was forced to buy another ticket out of Bermuda and flew to Tampa via Atlanta to stay with a friend for a few days at the end of June. Before leaving, her daughter received an e-mail from officials stating that on her return, Ms Robinson would be allowed to land and remain in Bermuda for a further 21 days. Ms Robinson believed that by that time, her ARC application would be processed and approved.

But when she landed back in Bermuda on July 2, Ms Robinson was blocked from entering the Island — because she did not have a return ticket out of the country.

“My daughter was waiting at the airport for me. By now my alarm had become terror and I begged the Immigration officer to let me speak with my daughter,” Ms Robinson said.

“He refused. I begged him to speak with her and gave him her mobile number. He did call her and gave her the information that unless I could show a ticket out of Bermuda, I would not be landed.”

With the help of work colleagues, Ms Robinson’s daughter was immediately able to book her mother on a flight to Tampa departing on July 23. She then telephoned the Immigration officer to let him know that her mother now had a valid ticket off the Island.

But to the horror of both women, they were then told that a return flight had to be to Ms Robinson’s country of origin — the UK — and that a ticket to Tampa was not valid.

With Ms Robinson set to be deported to the US within 30 minutes, her daughter rushed to buy a ticket to London. After the purchase had been made, Ms Robinson’s daughter once again called the Immigration officer on his cell phone but received no answer and her mother was marched onto a departing flight.

“I was escorted out of the airport to be put on the next flight out to Tampa,” Ms Robinson said.

“My heart was racing and I could not breathe properly. Surely, this could not be happening? What was my crime? It wasn’t as though I was carrying a kilo of cocaine in my suitcase.

“Initially they were going to put me on a flight to Atlanta, Georgia. I don’t know anyone in Atlanta and I would be homeless, arriving in a US state with no money, no clothes and no means of communication. I pleaded with the officer and said if they must deport me to please send me to Tampa where at least I would have somewhere to stay with a friend. They did this, so, now Immigration had spent Bermuda Government funds on two tickets, one of which was unusable.”

Ms Robinson maintains that officials refused to answer calls from her daughter or make any effort to tell her that she had been deported.

Ms Robinson was able to make her way back to the UK from Tampa but has not returned to Bermuda since.

“I need to see my daughter and granddaughter again but am fearful of Bermuda’s Immigration victimising me yet again,” she said.

“I am still reeling from the horror of what happened to me and the unjustifiable behaviour of Bermuda Immigration. The conduct of the Immigration staff who dealt with my daughter and I make a mockery of their mission statement to show sympathy, impartiality and courtesy.”

Ms Robinson has since written to Chief Immigration Officer Danette Ming asking for any red flags against her name to be removed. But she has been told that, should she return to Bermuda, she will only be granted a 21-day permit.

“Why am I still being penalised for a crime I do not know about, a crime I did not commit and why is Bermuda Immigration continuing its secrecy about malicious, anonymous allegations made against me which were clearly untrue?”