A judge says Immigration New Zealand’s decision to deny entry into the country to a defendant scheduled to appear in the Queenstown District Court this week for a discharge hearing is "strange".
Asha Zephaniah Brissett (29), of Makarora, had earlier admitted possession of class A-controlled LSD and class B-controlled cannabis resin in Wanaka on April 4.
Defence counsel Liam Collins said after an appearance in court on April 21, Brissett was remanded at large for diversion to be considered.
The remand was continued on May 1, when he admitted the charges. No convictions were entered as he had applied for a discharge without conviction.
That was to have been considered in court on Monday.
However, Mr Collins told Judge David Saunders his client was turned around by Immigration New Zealand at Christchurch Airport about a week earlier.
Brissett had returned to the UK to deal with family matters and had been scheduled to return to Queenstown a fortnight ago to meet Mr Collins before the hearing.
But he was denied entry into the country at Christchurch International Airport.
"He was stopped at the border on the basis he’d entered guilty pleas," Mr Collins said.
Brissett was subsequently sent back to England.
"I spent hours on the phone with Immigration [NZ] at Christchurch [and told officials they were] frustrating this court’s jurisdiction."
Mr Collins said he also sought a formal response from Immigration NZ and Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse.
He had received confirmation Brissett was refused entry and was told, based on the guilty pleas, he was "a risk to this country".
Mr Collins sought for the matter to be adjourned to enable Brissett to return to Queenstown for the hearing.
"He would like to continue with the application," Mr Collins told Judge Saunders.
"It’s his intention to return to New Zealand ... and continue living and working in Wanaka."
Judge Saunders said Immigration New Zealand "should have deferred to the court’s jurisdiction" in Brissett’s case.
The court had timetabled dates for submissions to be filed so the matter could be dealt with.
"That’s been frustrated by the fact that somebody else had a higher authority than the court ... and sent him packing.
"It’s not a case where he’s thumbed his nose at the court."
Judge Saunders remanded the case to October 16 for Brissett to return to New Zealand for the application to be heard.
