PRIEST'S Conviction Could Stop Return to Australia

3 News
November 10, 2014

http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/priests-conviction-could-stop-return-to-australia-2014111013

A Blenheim priest who admitted indecently assaulting a man at a parish presbytery has been discharged without conviction, after arguing being sentenced would stop him entering Australia.

Former St Mary's parish priest Alastair Aidan Kay appeared in the Blenheim District Court this morning for sentencing, but was adjourned so his lawyer could prove the consequences of a conviction.

His case was re-called this afternoon, where Judge Bruce Davidson granted the discharge without conviction "by the narrowest of margins".

He was ordered to pay $1500 in emotional harm to the victim.

Kay previously pleaded guilty to the charge, in which he slid his hands down a man's trousers and groped his buttocks while trying to kiss him on the lips.

Defence lawyer Rob Harrison said the conviction would impact the 71-year-old returning to Australia.

He had already been banned from working in the Marlborough district, and a conviction would stop him returning to his former order, he said.

Mr Harrison argued for a discharge without conviction, which the victim and police agreed with, as well undergoing restorative justice process.

He said it was at the "lower end" of offending, although it was a "gross breach of trust given his position".