An Iranian asylum seeker whose case was mishandled by the Home Office has had a second claim rejected.

The Home Office admitted making mistakes in dealing with Amir Hassan's case after Hove MP Celia Barlow accused it of misleading her office.

After receiving an apology, Mr Hassan, of Lansdowne Place, Hove, applied to have his case reconsidered but it has been turned down again because of a missed deadline.

Amir said he only went over the time limit because his old solicitors dropped his case two days before the deadline.

He said he feared for his life if he returned home and felt let down by the asylum system.

He said: "Deporting people back to Iran is giving a dire message. It is, in effect, denying that Iran is committing human rights crimes - it is tantamount to cooperating with the Iranian government."

Mr Hassan, a web journalist, fled to England in December 2004 after the authorities shut down his internet company, arrested him and made threats to his life.

He had hoped his website, about Iranian history and culture, would encourage Iranians and foreigners to mix online.

He said: "This threw out a direct challenge to the repressive regime."

Once in England he applied for asylum but said his case was dogged by misunderstanding and errors. He was assigned three or four different case workers by the Refugee Legal Council (RLC), a legal aid charity, and felt his reasons for fleeing Iran were never explained clearly in his statements.

His request was refused once and turned down on appeal. He had five days to ask for reconsideration or make a new claim but after three days the RLC told him his case was too weak so he missed the deadline.

The RLC said it could not comment on the case because of client confidentiality.

Mr Hassan put in a fresh claim last year.

On November 16, police arrested him at dawn and he was told he would be deported, even though the Home Office had not yet sent deportation papers to his solicitors.

This mistake, blamed on a mislaid fax, meant his detention was illegal.

The Home Office cancelled the order but did not tell the detention centre and Mr Hassan was taken to Heathrow. He was only saved when a friend dashed to the airport with the relevant papers.

Kaye Everett, of Amir's new solicitors Christian Khan, said they were considering a new claim. She said: "He's got a very strong case and it's recognised that journalists from Iran face persecution."

The Home Office said it could not comment on individual cases.