00:00After two days of waiting, Troy Bell learned his fate.
00:08The jury found the 51-year-old independent MP guilty of 20 counts of theft and 5 counts
00:14of dishonest dealing. Bell was found not guilty of one count of dishonest dealing with documents.
00:20Troy Bell is a very well-known and very well-liked local MP. We've all found it quite surprising
00:28what the verdict has been.
00:30The state member for Mount Gamby was first charged back in 2017 following an investigation
00:35by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
00:38These allegations make me feel sick to my stomach and I'm in a state of shock and disbelief.
00:43But the case only went to trial in June this year. The court hearing the offending occurred
00:47between 2009 and 2013 when Bell was a Department of Education employee before he was elected
00:54as a Liberal Member of Parliament. The jury accepted Bell stole more than $430,000 from
01:00not-for-profit organisations that supported disengaged and vulnerable youths to fund home
01:06renovations and pay credit card debts.
01:09In Mount Gambier, where Bell has twice been re-elected after being charged, there was
01:13anger.
01:13You expect honest people to be there, not crook people.
01:17I think that's terrible. I don't think he should be in that position at all. I don't
01:21think that's someone that should be a leader of our town.
01:24It's unclear at this stage if Bell will appeal the jury decision. His legal team has described
01:29the prosecution case as a mad rabble with more holes in it than a balfour's crumpet.
01:34The political future for Bell, who immediately left the Liberal Party when he was charged
01:38seven years ago, is now tenuous. Given the guilty verdict, he's facing expulsion from
01:43Parliament.
01:44Let's see if there is an avenue of appeal that's open to Mr Bell. That'll be a matter
01:48for the courts. And then of course the judgement of Mr Bell about whether he chooses to take
01:53that up.
01:54Whether he is expelled, resigns or takes the case to appeal remains to be seen.
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