Tauranga bomb alert man deported

A Slovenian man who sparked the major bomb alert that shut down central Tauranga last week has been deported.

Fifty-seven-year-old Jacob Slevec has been in custody since his first appearance. He was charged with burglary and threatening to kill or cause grievous bodily harm.

Western Bay Area Commander Murray Lewis said two police officers escorted the man back to Europe on a 34-hour flight yesterday and all charges against him are likely to be dropped.

"The decision was that there wouldn't be a lot to be gained by putting him through the court process. He was in this country illegally and a decision was taken to expedite his removal," he said.

Mr Lewis believes that part of Slevec's motivation for making the threats was because he wanted to be deported.

Mr Slevec holed himself in a Tauranga hotel and threatened to blow himself up so he could be deported and get a free trip home.

However, National's law and order spokesman Tony Ryall says he is outraged that the man was deported without further punishment.

Mr Ryall said the decision to deport sent all the wrong messages. "It's barmy to give free trips home to bomb hoaxers," Mr Ryall said.

"This decision tells lonely stranded foreigners that if you threaten to blow up a building then the Labour government will give you a free ticket home."

Detective Inspector Karl Wright-St Clair said it was not unusual for people to be deported while they were facing charges in New Zealand.

"We have to weigh up all the circumstances and make a decision that is in the best interest of everyone concerned," he said.

"Based on his explanation when he was arrested and his mental state, we believed it was in everyone's best interest that he was deported sooner rather than later."

Central Tauranga came to a grinding halt as police herded shoppers out of the city and cordoned off streets. The interruption is estimated to have cost businesses up to $500,000.

The 13-hour siege ended when police were satisfied Slevec had fallen asleep and had no explosives with him.

The New Zealand Immigration Service established Mr Slevec was an overstayer shortly after he was arrested and issued an order for his removal.

The Department of Labour pays for overstayers to be removed if they do not have the financial means to get themselves home.

But a spokeswoman said: "People don't have to go to these extremes, they can just come to us."

- NEWSTALK ZB, BAY OF PLENTY TIMES