PHUKET: A member of an outlawed motorcycle gang in Australia is now in limbo on Phuket after being denied permission by the Australian government to return to his wife and children in Geelong, near Melbourne.
The man, Daniel Roach, travels on a British passport and is alleged to be the sergeant-at-arms in a Bandidos chapter.
Mr Roach has been on Phuket, training at Thai kickboxing in the south of the island, telling his Facebook friends that he had lost four kilos in nine weeks.
However, after his photograph appeared on the front page of Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper today with the headline ''BIKIE EXILE Bandidos enforcer trapped in Thailand'' he wrote: ''Shutting down my Facebook. F*** you dogs.''
The ruling that he cannot return to Australia has prompted Mr Roach to engage an immigration lawyer in Australia but his movements on Phuket and elsewhere are now likely to be closely monitored by Thai, Australian and British authorities.
Mr Roach appears to have been a longtime resident of Australia and with family there, clearly had expectations that he would be allowed to return to his preferred home.
A spokesperson for Australia's Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, did not name Mr Roach, the Melbourne newspaper reported today, but did say that ''an application for a new Australian visa has been refused for a person with an alleged association with an outlaw motorcycle gang.
''The man is alleged to have had involvement in a range of criminal activities, including drug offences, through his alleged association with an outlaw motorcycle gang.''
The minister ''personally intervened'' to refuse a return visa on charcater grounds, the newspaper said.
Mr Roach's family declined to comment.
On Phuket, Mr Roach was invited to tell his side of the story but later failed to respond to telephone calls through an intermediary.
Between last July and March, Mr Dutton and his predecessor, Scott Morrison, cancelled 371 visas on character grounds, up 500 percent on the corresponding period the previous year.
Another 85 applications for new visas were rejected on character grounds - a 40 percent increase.
A Daily Mail headline described Mr Roach today as ''The Bangkok Bikie.'' Phuket is about 12 hours' drive south of Thailand's capital.
Phuketwan tracked Mr Roach to his apartment on Phuket with ease.
The man, Daniel Roach, travels on a British passport and is alleged to be the sergeant-at-arms in a Bandidos chapter.
Mr Roach has been on Phuket, training at Thai kickboxing in the south of the island, telling his Facebook friends that he had lost four kilos in nine weeks.
However, after his photograph appeared on the front page of Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper today with the headline ''BIKIE EXILE Bandidos enforcer trapped in Thailand'' he wrote: ''Shutting down my Facebook. F*** you dogs.''
The ruling that he cannot return to Australia has prompted Mr Roach to engage an immigration lawyer in Australia but his movements on Phuket and elsewhere are now likely to be closely monitored by Thai, Australian and British authorities.
Mr Roach appears to have been a longtime resident of Australia and with family there, clearly had expectations that he would be allowed to return to his preferred home.
A spokesperson for Australia's Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, did not name Mr Roach, the Melbourne newspaper reported today, but did say that ''an application for a new Australian visa has been refused for a person with an alleged association with an outlaw motorcycle gang.
''The man is alleged to have had involvement in a range of criminal activities, including drug offences, through his alleged association with an outlaw motorcycle gang.''
The minister ''personally intervened'' to refuse a return visa on charcater grounds, the newspaper said.
Mr Roach's family declined to comment.
On Phuket, Mr Roach was invited to tell his side of the story but later failed to respond to telephone calls through an intermediary.
Between last July and March, Mr Dutton and his predecessor, Scott Morrison, cancelled 371 visas on character grounds, up 500 percent on the corresponding period the previous year.
Another 85 applications for new visas were rejected on character grounds - a 40 percent increase.
A Daily Mail headline described Mr Roach today as ''The Bangkok Bikie.'' Phuket is about 12 hours' drive south of Thailand's capital.
Phuketwan tracked Mr Roach to his apartment on Phuket with ease.
If I was doing anything even remotely criminal, let alone be involved in organized crime, I would most certainly NOT have a facebook page.
As if the authorities could not put 2 and 2 together ?
Posted by Herbert on May 19, 2015 11:27
Editor Comment:
The tally is, of course, three. While we wouldn't make presumptions of guilt or innocence, many authorities react these days the same way George Bush reacted to reports of weapons of mass destruction. These people are not journalists. Facts are not always checked. But jobs are maintained.