Killer Briton’s antics on flights halt deportation

SYDNEY–Australian officials on Friday are considering how to deport a British murderer after he was pulled from two commercial flights after reportedly spitting at crew and screaming abuse after boarding.

Keith Herring ripped a telephone from the seat of a plane and urinated in a holding cell as officials attempted to deport him back to England on Thursday, The Australian newspaper said.

It was the second time in as many days that his removal fell through due to his behavior after plans to put him on another commercial flight failed on Wednesday, it said.

An immigration department official confirmed the two attempts.

“He misbehaved in a range of ways and a decision was made by the department in consultation with the airline that we didn’t want to risk any incidents with passengers and crew, so we took him off,” a spokeswoman told the newspaper.

Another spokeswoman told AFP that authorities were determined to deport the 66-year-old as quickly as possible and in “the most cost-effective” way but no final decision had been made on how to do this.

Reports said a charter flight could cost up to US$1 million.

Herring received an immigration visa in 1988 despite a long criminal history in Britain and a year later killed his Philippines-born wife in their Sydney home.

He was handed a 22-year sentence for the murder in 1995 along with a two-and-a-half-year term for his behavior during the trial which included exposing himself, calling the prosecutor a “fat slug”, and attempting to attack the judge, the report said.

Immigration authorities cancelled his visa on character grounds, meaning deportation after being released from prison. He has reportedly been held in immigration detention since his release in June.