Australia to deport British mother of five for past crimes

A British mother of five who moved to Australia when she was two could be deported over crimes she has committed Down Under.

Kelly Webb, 30, was jailed in 2014 for committing a burglary armed with a knife and, on her release in March, was taken to the Maribyrnong Detention Centre in Maidstone, Victoria.

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Her visa had been revoked as, despite moving to Australia in 1988 when she was two, she was never naturalised and never became an Australian citizen.

Under Australian law, a visa can be revoked if a person spends more than a year in jail.

According to the BBC, Ms Webb said in a interview with Melbourne station 3AW Radio: "I found out three days before I was due for parole from prison.

"I got pulled into the office and they said to me you will be going to an immigration detention centre."

The Daily Telegraph reports that she added: "It's not ideal, I have no money, no housing, no family. I'm being set up to fail."

And Sky News reports that Ms Webb added: "I just want to be a mum to my kids.

"I don't want to be taken from my children... I'll die of a broken heart."

She said she has no family or friends in the UK, and that, should she be deported, three of her children will be left without a parent after their father died in a motorcycle accident last year, reports ITV News.

Host Neil Mitchell does not believe Webb should be deported, saying: "She is our problem, not the United Kingdom's."

And Greg Barns, from the Australian Lawyers Alliance, told the same radio station in a separate interview that the process was "absurd" and "grossly unfair".

Ms Webb's has been to jail 11 times, but the latest stint was the longest.

At the age of 14 she killed her violent stepfather and was served with a good behaviour bond for manslaughter.

She is a self-confessed drug user, but says she has been free of drugs for 18 months.

A number of Facebook users have expressed their opinion on the case.

One wrote: "Her mother is at fault for not naturalising her - I bet she has a dual passport. There are far worse people that should be deported and aren't, give her one last chance - so life on good behaviour, if she breaks that she's gone."

Another said: "I think minors of parents who come to Australia and who become citizens - the children should automatically become citizens. So no I don't think she should be deported. It would be interesting if she was a male under the same circumstances - what would people decide in that case."

And one user wrote: "If she doesn't have Australian citizenship, then yes she should face deportation. Maybe this will make others wake up and realise they need to do theirs..."

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