Cook Islands residents campaigning to kick out convicted property developer Mark Lyon would have been surprised to see him mooching about Auckland this week.
As residents of Rarotonga called for Lyon to be put on a plane back home amid allegations of misdeeds on their island, the tall, tanned poster-boy for dentistry was spotted sipping a quiet drink in a tropical-flavoured lime-green shirt.
The 48-year-old, due before an Auckland court next month for sentencing on weapons charges, perhaps nipped home early to escape indignation in the Cooks.
Last month, more than 100 people marched to get Lyon kicked out, and this week the Rarotongan businesswoman heading the campaign to deport him said that she had met Prime Minister Robert Woonton to remind him that when Lyon was granted a residency permit in November, it was stated that he would be evicted if any of his family broke the law.
June Baudinet said two teenage girls had made statements to police. The pair, aged 15 and 17, complained of pornographic material at the Lyon home, the use of drugs and an allegation of non-sexual assault.
Lyon has been living on Rarotonga with his partner, Susan, and his sons since he was bailed there to escape gang pressures.
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