Kidnap plotter deportation overturned

One of the men jailed for conspiring to kidnap Wellington businessman Bill Trotter in 2002 has had his deportation order overturned. British-born Simon Phillpott was originally ordered to leave the country, after pleading guilty to his part in the kidnap attempt.

Mr Phillpott's step father John Burrett and Matthew Payne are still in prison. After a seven-week trial, they were found guilty of conspiring to kidnap Mr Trotter and hold him for ransom in a specially designed bunker buried in the ground in the Rimutaka Forest Park north of Upper Hutt. They were also found guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm.

Last month the High Court found the Deportation Review Tribunal had wrongly analysed Phillpott's appeal and ordered it to re-hear the case.

This month the tribunal held a day-long hearing and has now reversed its original decision.

Phillpott's employer, Twin Lakes Engineering is ecstatic about the ruling. A spokesman says Mr Phillpott is an outstanding tradesman who has been working on a job at the Beehive for the last year or so.

- NEWSTALK ZB