Richard Martin was today sentenced to two and half months in prison – to be served cumulatively with his previous sentence of three years and seven months – in the North Shore District Court.
He pled guilty to providing immigration advice without a licence and receiving a fee for it after providing advice to “vulnerable” migrants while on bail,
Stuff has reported.
Martin helped Michael Barrymore gain residency to New Zealand to seek refuge after a man died at a party hosted by the entertainer at his house in England in the early 2000s.
In November last year, Martin was found guilty by jury on 93 immigration charges, including providing immigration advice when neither licensed nor exempt, forgery and supplying false or misleading information to an immigration officer.
At the time, Acting Registrar of Immigration Advisers Catherine Albiston said it was the heaviest penalty handed down to an unlicensed adviser, since the Immigration Advisers Authority was established in 2007, and reflected the seriousness of the offending.
The newest charges relate to offending carried out while Martin was on bail.
At today’s sentencing, Judge Lawrence Hilton said the offending was “clearly premediated” and involved a “vulnerable migrant”, Stuff reported.
“In the immigration field you would be dealing to a vulnerable constituency. People who have come to you for advice are more particularly vulnerable than perhaps others who seek out professional advice,” he said.
