Killara Lodge in Kerikeri, which was destroyed by fire in 2011. Robinson was acquitted of arson charges.





An Englishman who was accused of setting fire to his Northland home via the internet now faces deportation from New Zealand, after his historical blackmail convictions in the UK came to light.

In a letter sent last month, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) told Chris Robinson had begun an investigation into whether he is liable for deportation. It said he had failed to mention his convictions when applying in 2004 to migrate to New Zealand, and appeared to have supplied "false information" in the family's residence application.

Robinson says he will fight the potential deportation of himself, his wife Alison, and their two children, who were aged 12 and 14 when the family arrived in 2005.

BAY CHRONICLE Facing deportation: Chris Robinson and his wife Alison, pictured outside their Kerikeri home before the September 2011 fire that destroyed it.

He said he in fact has no criminal record in the UK, but cannot publicly discuss the reason for the apparent conflict between this and the existence of the UK press reports.

READ MORE Did this guy seriously burn down his own house via the internet?

Stuff recently reported on Robinson's long and complex battle with his insurer IAG, which began in 2011 when his luxury home in Kerikeri was destroyed by fire when he and his wife Alison were in Hamilton, 400km to the south.

Fire investigators alleged Robinson triggered the fire with a command sent via the internet to a computer printer in the house, and he was charged with arson. He was acquitted after evidential flaws were found with the investigator's theory, but IAG remains convinced he set the fire, and has refused to pay out the policy.

To complicate matters, in 2013 Robinson was charged with blackmail because he sent a series of threatening emails to the insurer demanding cash to stop him publicising what he considered their criminal behaviour. He was found guilty of blackmail this year and is serving nine months' home detention.

During the blackmail trial, the prosecution produced newspaper reports showing Robinson had been sentenced to four years' jail in 1993 at London's Old Bailey. It was reported that Robinson had impersonated an Irish priest and sent threatening letters to 30 major British companies demanding "donations" in exchange for protection against IRA bombers.

Robinson said his police report from the UK's National Identification Service (NIS), which he supplied to INZ in 2004, clearly shows he in fact has a clean record.

In recent correspondence with INZ Robinson learnt that a copy of the NIS police record had been released to an investigator acting for IAG, following a request under the Official Information Act (OIA).

Robinson said: "After five years of being bounced around by IAG, it's just another episode of the same thing. I don't know why IAG are involved in the deportation thing. I don't understand why New Zealand Immigration is issuing details of what's happening to IAG. It all seems to be connected."

An IAG spokesperson said the insurer had no involvement in immigration action involving Robinson, though he confirmed it had made a request to INZ under the OIA for information about him.

He said: "Our focus has been on the insurance claim itself and on the various court actions that have followed from the insurance claim after the fire at Mr Robinson's property."

INZ said Robinson came to their attention in 2013 "through a police matter". It said it had received an OIA request about Robinson from IAG but most aspects of the request were declined for privacy reasons. Only information that had been noted to be already in the public domain, such as the police certificate and the results of a UK fingerprint check that appear to confirm the 1993 conviction, were released.

INZ said "no conclusion" had been reached with regard to the validity of the UK police report that Robinson had used back in 2004 to demonstrate his clean record.

In the past year INZ has served nearly 1000 "deportation liability notices", and of those just 6 percent were cancelled for reasons such as a successful appeal.