Fraudster let off to help his visa chance

An illegal immigrant from Kashmir who pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud has been spared a criminal record by a Perth magistrate who said he did not want to damage the man's chances of securing a visa.

The controversial decision by Magistrate Leighton Jones, a former Aboriginal Legal Service lawyer, means Qamar Naseeb "Steven" Khan will stand a far greater chance of being awarded a bridging visa that will allow him to work while he awaits deportation.

Khan, who failed to win refugee status in 1998 and subsequently spent five years in detention, was given a spent conviction and a $1000 fine for fraudulently obtaining a credit card and spending a total of $762.55 - including $500 at Burswood Casino.

Khan's light treatment came despite fierce opposition from the prosecuting sergeant, who said it would be "totally inappropriate" to grant a spent conviction. "He spent five years in detention centres . . . and is so determined to become an Australian citizen and stay here on a permanent basis, one would think that this would be the last thing that Mr Khan would avail himself to do," he said.

The ruling came just two weeks ago, before a Perth Muslim woman won a bid to have her 19-year-old son home in time for Ramadan celebrations when a magistrate granted the man bail with home detention.

In the Khan case, Mr Jones was told Khan had spent seven months building a false identity under the name George Prasad by providing bogus passport and identification details. He had applied for a BankWest Mastercard and had spent about $260 on petrol. Mr Jones said the offence was "extremely serious", but that a conviction might affect Khan's employment prospects and his visa application.

Khan arrived in Australia in 1998 claiming his life was in danger in India for his separatist activities in Indian Kashmir. But both the Federal Government and Refugee Review Tribunal rejected his application for refugee status. He was released in August 2003 by the Federal Court, but is considered a stateless person because India will not accept his deportation.

Defence lawyer Mark Andrews declined to comment because he said police had indicated they might appeal.

SEAN COWAN
The West Australian, 6 Nov 2005

Rort back and sides

THIS is state MP Paul Gibson, hard at it in a London hair salon on a parliamentary study tour which has taken him and fellow MP Daryl Maguire to the UK, Russia and South Africa.

The globe-trotting MPs had just one official engagement on the first day of the London leg of their $55,000 road safety study tour – but neither of them turned up, so officials from UK safe roads group, the FIA Foundation, did not get to meet their two overseas visitors. The Saturday Daily Telegraph later discovered Mr Gibson in a London high street hair salon getting a $46 haircut.

Then it was off to the dry cleaners to pick up some shirts and the pub for an authentic London dining experience.

The state MPs missed another appointment as part of their business-class tour on their second day in London, although they did get to a luncheon at the House of Commons.

When The Saturday Daily Telegraph approached the MPs on the streets of London Mr Gibson became angry and told us to "piss off".

The MPs who are now in St Petersburg are on a taxpayer-funded tour approved by Parliament. Mr Gibson, the Labor Member for Blacktown, is the chair of the Staysafe Commitee. Mr Maguire, a Liberal MP and Member for Wagga, is also on the committee. They are travelling with Staysafe Committee staffer Ian Faulks.

FIA Foundation spokeswoman Fiona Holland said only Mr Faulks had attended Monday's meeting. "We were expecting three people, but the MPs didn't come," she said.

The MPs were scheduled to meet the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Transport Safety at 3pm on Tuesday but again they did not turn up. A spokesman for the advisory council said Mr Faulks was the only one to attend the meeting.

A Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK spokeswoman confirmed Mr Gibson and Mr Maguire had lunch at the House of Commons from about 1-2pm Tuesday.

Asked what he had been doing all day, an angry Mr Gibson said: "We didn't do anything."

In a confusing exchange, he then said he had spent the day in meetings with various MPs, though he refused to specify when, where, or with whom. A few minutes later he backflipped and denied he had said anything about meetings with MPs.

Mr Gibson was spotted laughing as he sat in a barber's chair at 3.30pm before returning to his luxury hotel with an armful of polo shirts.

The Saturday Daily Telegraph spoke with Mr Gibson by phone on Thursday, when the tour had moved on to Moscow. Asked why he had missed meetings in London, Mr Gibson said: "I never missed a meeting that we had to go to.

"If it's meeting politicians, that's one thing but if it's with administration, then the administration person goes.

"I've been to every meeting I had to go to. Just because it's on the itinerary doesn't mean I have to go to it."

Asked which engagements he had attended, Mr Gibson said: "I'm not telling you what meetings I went to."

"I don't report to The (Saturday) Daily Telegraph, I report to Parliament. Who do you think you are? I report to Parliament . . . "

The final leg of the Staysafe tour is to St Petersburg. Surprisingly no meetings are scheduled on the group's itinerary but when asked what he was planning to do in St Petersburg, Mr Gibson said: "I'm not telling you."

By DAVID FISHER and FIONA HUDSON
The Daily Telegraph
Australia, 5 Nov 2005