Cole Miller accused and New Zealand national Daniel Jermaine Lee Maxwell faces deportation

AUSTRALIAN Border Force have taken an extraordinary step to thwart a bail application made by a New Zealander charged over the one-punch death of Cole Miller.

Border Force gunning for Cole accused

A NEW Zealander charged over the one-punch death of Cole Miller is likely to be ­deported by the Australian Government even if he is found not guilty.

Australian Border Force yesterday thwarted Daniel Jermaine Lee Maxwell’s bail application, taking the extraordinary step of threatening to strip him of his visa and lock him up in a detention centre if released from jail.

It was the 21-year-old’s second bid for bail, but his lawyers abandoned the plan at the last minute after Crown prosecutors advised them of an email sent from Border Force just 45 minutes earlier.

NZ NATIONAL: Bail bid postponed due to visa issues

Maxwell was charged in January with unlawful striking causing death along with another man, Armstrong ­Renata, after an alleged one-punch assault in Fortitude Valley led to the death of 18-year-old Mr Miller.

The Courier-Mail understands if he does get bail, it is likely he will be sent to a Brisbane detention centre.

If he is found guilty or pleads guilty, it is likely he will serve jail time.

If he is found not guilty, the Australian Government will almost certainly kick him out of the country under section 116 of the Migration Act. Non-citizens can have their visas cancelled if they are deemed an unacceptable risk to the safety and good order of the Australian community.

Outside court, high-profile lawyer Michael Bosscher said it was “certainly something I have not seen before involving a New Zealand citizen”.

“We had no notice of it and the Crown had no notice of it, it was something sprung on both sides at the very last minute this morning shortly before the hearing,” he said.

Daniel Jermaine Lee Maxwell.

“It is very hard to try and understand the reasoning of the Australian Border Force and the Federal Government in matters like these.

“Certainly having access to him is much more difficult if he is in immigration custody ... they could put him anywhere in Australia or even Nauru if they chose.”

But Federal Immigration Minister Peter Dutton in a statement ruled out offshore detention, saying people with cancelled visas “are not subject to transfer to regional processing centres”.

He said the department had powers to cancel the visa of any non-citizen deemed an unacceptable risk to the safety and good order of the Australian community.

“In such circumstances, a person can be detained by Immigration while their outstanding legal matters are finalised,” he said.

The decision can be appealed to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

Mr Bosscher said he would need to ­discuss the next step with Maxwell, and the application was adjourned to a later date.