NEW ZEALAND – A British man whose stepdaughter was murdered in New Zealand could be deported by the government despite residing in the country for more than 50 years, in a situation he describes as an “endless nightmare”.

Mark Middleton has lived in New Zealand for 56 years, after leaving Britain at the age of four and arriving in the country with his parents in 1962.

In 1989, Middleton’s step-daughter Karla Cardno, 13, was kidnapped, raped, tortured and buried alive by Paul Dally, who was jailed for life for the murder, and remains in prison.

In 2001, Middleton was convicted of threatening to “crucify” Dally if he was ever released from prison, in a controversial decision that sparked huge debate and protest in New Zealand, largely in support of Middleton.

Middleton threatened to kill Dally numerous times, including telling Wanganui police: “I want his life from him – and that means you either keep him in for life or I’ll take his life.”

A psychiatrist who testified at Middleton’s trial said he was suffering from chronic hypertrophic grief after the murder of his stepdaughter.

Now, Middleton is being deported from the only home he can remember, after being arrested last week and held in police cells for 40 hours.

Immigration New Zealand said it sent Middleton a letter in 1987 “advising him that he needed to regularise his immigration status” since living unlawfully in the country after returning from a family holiday to Fiji in 1986 and being issued with a 30-day visitor visa.

Middleton says he never received the letter, has spent his entire life in New Zealand, and has never returned to Britain.

“They’ve had 30 years and I haven’t been hiding anywhere,” Middleton said.

In a statement, the Immigration New Zealand assistant general manager Peter Devoy said Middleton had two weeks to appeal his deportation before a final decision was made.

“He came to the attention of Immigration New Zealand last year as his identity was on a pool of unlawful historical clients who could be living in the Wellington area,” Devoy said.

“Immigration New Zealand prioritises cases for deportation, with those engaged in criminality or who otherwise pose a risk to the integrity of New Zealand’s immigration system being the highest priority cases for deportation.”

The associate minister for immigration Kris Faafoi is reviewing the deportation order after Middleton applied to have it revoked.

Since his arrest, Middleton has been sacked from his job teaching carpentry and says his deportation would “destroy” his family, for whom he is the sole breadwinner.

“You are basically looking at the complete destruction of my family, the whole thing with Karla was bad enough but this is just going to add to the destruction of my family,” Middleton told Newshub.

“It just goes on and on and on, it’s the endless nightmare isn’t it, it’s the endless nightmare.”

Middleton plans to appeal his case with the minister for immigration, and has evidence of a long and productive life in New Zealand, including school records.

Middleton’s lawyer Keith Jeffries said Immigration New Zealand’s claim that Middleton was an illegal immigrant was bizarre when he had been living in New Zealand more than 50 years – many of them as the high-profile stepfather of a murdered schoolgirl.

“It is constitutionally perverse and it is something that the minister should intervene in,” Jeffries told Newshub.

According to INZ estimates, 471 Britons overstayed their visa in 2016, a significant drop from the 1184 estimated in 2000.