A promising child actor from West Auckland turned 501 deportee was the man killed in an alleged hit-and-run in Henderson on Friday night.
Lionel Allan, 39, is being remembered as a devoted family man who had worked hard to turn his life around.
Earlier this year he had said he just wanted "to be an old man with kids" and get on with his life.
He was found seriously injured on The Concourse in Henderson after he was struck by a vehicle and suffered critical injuries.
Allan died at he scene.
A 42-year-old man was arrested the following night and will face a charge in the Waitakere District Court on Thursday of failing to stop to ascertain injury or death following a crash.
Allan, who was known by Lionel Wickliffe during his acting days, and the long-standing nickname Doeboy, had a recurring role character Matt Te Ahi in TV3 teen drama Being Eve from 2001 to 2002.
Before that he had also chalked up an appearance on Hercules.
A family member, who did not want to be named, told the Herald Allan had left his troubled past behind him.
"He was a devoted dad and a good husband," the family member said.
"He had been living life for his family."
His mother is flying over from Australia for the funeral, set to be held on Friday.
"He was a good kid growing up," the family member said.
Allan moved across the ditch in 2005 to find work but later fell in with a bad crowd and was repeatedly arrested and later convicted of assault, receiving a prison term.
He was set to be deported after release but successfully lobbied the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of Australia for a second chance in 2016.
His wife, young child, mother and two sisters were living in Australia, the tribunal noted.
But in 2017, Australian television programme A Current Affair ran a controversial story promising to reveal the "savage thugs" and "cretins" who had managed to avoid deportation after feeding the tribunal "sob stories" and "porkies".
His house was raided and he was put into immigration detention after the story aired.
Allan's supporters believed the segment prompted then-Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, who had the power to overturn tribunal decisions, to personally take an interest in his case. Allan's employer at the time, Julia Sampo, was among those who were incensed.
"At work, he displayed leadership qualities and was making his way to becoming a team leader, running his own job site and focusing on progressing his career," Sampo, who ran a construction company with her husband, wrote on social media shortly after the segment aired. "Lionel was present in the life of his young baby, providing for his wife and making something of himself so that he could use his story to lead others in the right direction.
"As these events unfolded, I couldn't help but feel that this programme fuelled a witch-hunt based on assumption, disguised by the notion of patriotism, pulling on the heartstrings of fellow Australians."
Earlier this year, he appeared in the Auckland District Court for sentencing after a drug relapse resulting in a cluster of new burglary and theft charges.
At the hearing in April, Judge David Sharp pointed to another supportive letter, this time from Allan's new employer.
As part of Allan's community supervision sentence, he was allowed to leave his home during work hours so he can continue to earn for his family and pay $50 per fortnight in restitution to his latest victims.
He was ordered to pay $1500 for a trailer that was stolen and $300 for damage he caused to a Volvo. Other arrests, including an attempted theft from a store in which he was caught red-handed and the casing of a residence in which he was shown on CCTV looking through windows and trying to open doors, did not ultimately result in any financial gain, the judge noted.
"There's some real positive aspects of your life that you're able to point to," Sharp added.
"You're someone who has the potential to make a consistent and long-term recovery."
But he also noted that Allan again sat on a razor's edge and could have ended up going "through that other door" of the courtroom that leads to a holding cell, then prison.
Allan spoke to the Herald outside court after sentencing.
His wife, who lost her job after his "face was plastered all over the TV" in Australia, has since moved to New Zealand with their child to be with him. He wanted to be a better person for them, he said.
"I suffer addiction badly. I'm an addict and a petty thief," he said.
"I just want to be an old man with kids and get on with my life."
He was caught trying to trade gift vouchers for sex with a 14yo, police say.