Victory for kidnap plotter

An Upper Hutt man convicted of plotting to kidnap a Wellington millionaire had a deportation order against him quashed by the High Court yesterday.

British-born Simon Jonathan Phillpott has spent the past two years fighting a legal battle to stay in New Zealand.

The 37-year-old was sentenced to 2 1/2 years' jail after admitting to conspiring to kidnap businessman Bill Trotter and possessing a sawn-off shotgun.

Phillpott's stepfather, John Burrett, and Burrett's nephew, Matthew Norman Payne, were also convicted following the 2002 plot to kidnap Trotter and hold him in the Tunnel Gully Reserve, north of Upper Hutt. The plan was foiled after the buried plywood bunker was found by a possum trapper.

The offences occurred within five years of Phillpott being granted residency following his marriage to New Zealander Toni Ann Alexander in 1998 and he was issued with a deportation order on his release from prison in May 2003.

Phillpott appealed to the tribunal which upheld the deportation.

Justice Ron Young said yesterday he had concerns about the tribunal's ruling and Phillpott's case should be reheard.

- NZPA