ECSTASY DEALER CAN STAY WITH SON

A convicted drug trafficker currently serving a 15-year jail term will
be allowed to stay in Australia with his young son after he is released.

Administrative Appeals Tribunal deputy president Stan Hotop upheld an
appeal yesterday by 48-year-old Arthur Reginald Roberts against a
decision by the delegate for the Minister for Immigration to cancel
his visa on character grounds.

The decision means that Roberts, regarded by Federal agents as Perth's
biggest ecstasy dealer when he was arrested in May 1995, will not be
deported to the United Kingdom after his expected release from jail in
2004.

Mr Hotop said that despite the seriousness of Roberts' crime, the best
interests of his nine-year-old son tipped the decision in his favour.

In October 1998, Roberts and his younger brother, Andrew, pleaded
guilty to conspiring to import a trafficable quantity of ecstasy into
Australia between 1993 and 1995.

Arthur Roberts was jailed for 15 years with an eight-year non-parole
period. Andrew Roberts was jailed for eight years with a minimum of
four.

During the two-day hearing, Roberts"wife, Melanie, said that her
husband had made an incredibly bad mistake but had learnt his lesson
in jail.

Irisa Williams, Roberts"former wife and the mother of his son, said
that it would be detrimental to her son if Roberts was deported.

"I cannot give him everything he needs; he needs his father," Mrs
Williams said.

Roger Summers, a clinical psychologist at Albany Regional Prison, said
that there was a very low risk of Roberts reoffending and he would be
a benefit to society rather than a liability when released.

Lawyer Linda Thipthorp, representing the Minister for Immigration,
submitted that Roberts, formerly of Dawesville, had worked with
international drug supplier David Leitz to import ecstasy into
Australia on a large scale.

Roberts'organised criminal activity was so serious that it outweighed
the hardship his family would suffer if he was deported, Mrs Thipthorp
said.