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Daniel Roach, now on Phuket, makes the front page in Australia today

Phuket Limbo for British Bikie Refused Visa to Return to Family in Australia

Tuesday, May 19, 2015
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.

Comments

Comments have been disabled for this article.

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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.

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He can always go back to the UK no matter what.
Claim housing Benefits, dole money and whatever else you can claim now a days, so he's not exactly destitute.

Posted by Anonymous on May 19, 2015 14:27

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I hear that there are openings in Waco Texas for men with such qualifications.

Posted by juswunderin on May 19, 2015 15:58

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So 'alleged' is now grounds to refuse someone if they do not fit the norm- what happened to innocent until proven guilty? If the guy has been a resident, has ties to the community (ie a family) and has no criminal convictions it seems difficult to justify this. 'I don't think he's a good bloke' is a pretty weak acid test.

I'm not a great fan of Bikies but Australia seems more and more to becoming a xenophobic police state with its attitude towards foreigners.

Posted by Mister Ree on May 19, 2015 18:58

Editor Comment:

When a democracy sacrifices principle for pragmatics, that other P, paranoia, becomes a factor. What an easy, unfair way to solve a perceived problem.

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fun fact: not too long ago he could have been one of the founding fathers of modern Australia. In his case it shows the perils of late birth. I like this bikie pushback.

Posted by lena on May 20, 2015 15:57

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Mr. Ree, it is on legal ground for the minister to use his rights to deny entry visas. Democracies have to be "wehrhaft" resilient. A lesson learned in Germany. But feel free to start a petition for the sad bikie.

Posted by lena on May 20, 2015 16:03

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This bloke is a few sandwiches short of a picnic. If he wanted to live in Australia permanently, he should have applied for Australian citizenship and then obtained an Australian passport. He only has himself to blame and I for one have no sympathy for him or his family.

The Australian Government is well within its rights to reject a visa applicant on the grounds of bad character. The Minister, Mr Dutton, is doing a superb job.

Posted by Doug on May 21, 2015 09:52


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