Former South Australia MP Troy Bell jailed for five years for stealing $430,000

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Former South Australian MP Troy Bell is spending his first night behind bars after being jailed for five years for theft and fraud. The former member for Mount Gambier was found guilty last year of stealing more than 430 thousand dollars in public money.

Transcript

00:00From serving the people of Mount Gambier to serving time behind bars, former Mount Gambier

00:08MP Troy Bell has been jailed for five years. Last year a jury found the 52-year-old guilty

00:15of 20 counts of theft from not-for-profit organisations he ran while he worked for

00:21the education department. He was also found guilty of five counts of dishonest dealings

00:26with documents. Bell later lodged an appeal but it was dismissed by the state's highest

00:32court. The trial heard he stole $436,000 from the not-for-profit organisations over four years

00:40between 2009 and 2013. In sentencing, the district court judge labelled Bell's offending as serious

00:49and significant and said it happened due to his authority and trust.

00:54Bell is facing unrelated charges of deception in the Adelaide Magistrates Court which he strongly

01:00contests. Bell told reporters he was very nervous as he walked into the court building but remained

01:07calm throughout the hearing and after as he was led into the cells. In Mount Gambier,

01:12the former MP's constituents shared their feelings about his sentence.

01:17If you do the crime, you've got to do the time. He's done the wrong thing so, yep.

01:22I think he was great for the town so I was hoping he wouldn't get anything but understand that,

01:29yeah, he did need to get sentenced. Prompting the question of who's next for the seat of Mount

01:34Gambier. It's only five months today until we have another state election and opportunity for the

01:39people of Mount Gambier to choose a new member of parliament to represent them on North Terrace.

01:42I think it's absolutely atrocious that the Speaker of the House, who's been backed by the Labor

01:47Party here, has not called for a by-election. Bell won't be eligible for parole until April

01:532028 and will next appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court in December.

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