Editorial: Overstayer leads a charmed life

Tuvaluan overstayer Senee Niusila is lucky to be alive. Twice he has pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife. Twice judges have let him off because a conviction would see him sent back to Tuvalu where facilities do not exist to maintain his kidney dialysis, without which he would die.

After he pleaded guilty to the second charge he was invited by Judge Philip Recordon to "earn" a discharge this time by taking an anger management course. That was in September. Niusila returned to court this week for his lawyer to report that he had completed the course and the judge gave him the promised discharge.

At each previous court appearance Niusila has been supported by his wife, as sadly happens so often in cases like this. But this week she was not there. She and her children have taken refuge from him. And she says the judge has made the wrong decision. She said of her husband: "I know he will never change. He is laughing now."

Senee Niusila might well be laughing. He is the beneficiary of a deportation system which evidently can exercise no compassion in these circumstances and which therefore forces judges to make an ass of the law.

The best outcome would have been for Niusila to have been convicted and punished for his first assault and for the authorities to have stayed his deportation on compassionate grounds. We do not deport people in other circumstances where deportation would amount to a death sentence.

But since the immigration procedures seem to allow no discretion, judges are left in an invidious position. Judge Recordon made the only decision he could - unpalatable as it is.

There is hope at least in the fact that Niusila's wife has left him and seems willing at last to act in her own interests. And he has had the course of counselling for what it is worth. Now it is time to fix the deportation rules so that, if he offends again, justice can be done.