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Onehunga banjo killer has been deported

Fri 26 Feb 2016 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback

Ferdinand Ambach, who brutally killed gay man, Ronald Brown in the Auckland suburb of Onehunga in 2007, has been deported. Following his first parole hearing in December, in which he sought a grant of parole to be deported back to Hungary, Immigration New Zealand has confirmed that Ambach is no longer in New Zealand. In New Zealand on a tourist visa, the Hungarian man severely beat his victim with a banjo, breaking during the attack Ambach then shoved the instrument down the throat of the dying man. Brown died three days later in hospital when his life support was switched off. Ambach’s defence lawyer putting it to the jury that his client had been severely provoked by what he termed a “monstrous rage”. Amabch was sentenced to 12 years in prison with an eight year minimum parole period for manslaughter in 2009, with the jury agreeing with the now defunct provocation defence. He was released on 17 February with the condition that he was released into the custody of the Immigration Department or Police for immediate deportation. Serving eight years in prison, of which the Parole Board says he “demonstrated extremely good behaviour”, Ambach spent two years on remand, the Parole Board states that “Mr Ambach is ashamed of his behaviour and shows genuine remorse”, saying that the causes of his offending were “naivety and alcohol abuse”. The Parole Board did not consider Ambach an “undue risk to the community” and he was granted parole for the purposes that he be deported to Hungary. Ambach can not return to New Zealand during his term of parole which ends in December 2019.    

Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff

First published: Friday, 26th February 2016 - 12:24pm

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