Source: Radio New Zealand
RNZ
A man who threatened four drivers with a machete in Australia in a series of attempted carjackings will be deported back to New Zealand.
John Suafai Semau held a 64-year-old man in a headlock while trying to flee an accident scene in Queensland in 2022 and steal his car, and rammed that vehicle into another car who blocked his getaway.
A truck driver carrying a shovel stopped him stealing another car, which had a man, his mother and their dog inside.
His last attempted carjacking was on a woman who had just loaded her shopping when he approached with the machete.
The father of eight was jailed for four years for armed robbery, unlawful entry of motor vehicles assaulting a police officer and supplying drugs.
The Australian administrative review tribunal heard that the 38-year-old had lived in Australia about half of his life.
“The applicant drove a car into a parked car and then drove off. A 64-year-old man followed the applicant as he was driving and later approached the applicant about driving into the parked car.
“The applicant put [him] in a headlock and wrestled with him, pushing and shoving him to the ground several times. In the course of that struggle, the applicant returned to the car and retrieved a machete and held it towards the 64-year-old man.”
Witnesses watched him wave the machete in the air and strike the top of the driver’s side door frame. He got in the car, while the older man tried to stop him.
The tribunal heard the offending had been ‘highly traumatic’ to the general public.
“I raised with the applicant that death of a person was a possible consequence of further offences and he did not disagree,” said appeal decision-maker Dominique Murphy.
“It is of note that a significant proportion of the Applicant’s serious criminal offending involved him driving a car, committing offences while driving or in the course of driving.
“The use of a machete would be a terrifying experience for any person.”
Semau said he suffered a workplace accident in 2018 which resulted in him not returning to work, and the year afterwards his baby son died aged only five weeks old.
He said he collapsed internally and made reckless harmful decisions, including taking methamphetamine.
His rehabilitation and weekly counselling meant that he could be safely managed in the community under supervision because he now understood the warning signs he previously ignored.
Murphy said his removal would not be in the best interest of his children. The youngest is three and has a congenital heart condition and her five-year-old brother has level 3 autism.
“The five eldest children would be aware of the applicant’s criminal offending and his incarceration, which will have had a negative impact on those children. These children have written multiple letters and cards about their close relationship with their father and their love for him.”
But she ruled that was outweighed by the seriousness of his offending.
“The applicant, as a non-citizen who committed the serious crimes described in these reasons, should generally expect to forfeit the privilege of staying in Australia.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
