A former member of parliament, now disgraced, has been sentenced to a minimum of two-and-a-half years in prison for embezzling $435,000 intended for disadvantaged school students.
In September 2024, Troy Bell was found guilty by a South Australian District Court jury on 20 counts of theft and five counts of aggravated dishonest dealings. These offenses took place between 2009 and 2013.
Judge Rauf Soulio remarked that the 52-year-old had “lost much” due to the lengthy legal battle he faced over these charges, including his parliamentary seat and all his personal assets.
The former Liberal MP, who later ran as an independent after the charges were laid, remained stoic as the judge handed down a five-year sentence, with a non-parole period set at two-and-a-half years.
Prior to entering the courtroom, Bell admitted feeling “very nervous.”
Judge Soulio highlighted that Bell’s position of authority and the trust placed in him enabled the “serious and significant offending” to continue over several years.
Bell stepped down as the member for Mt Gambier in September after the Court of Criminal Appeal earlier dismissed his appeal.
Judge Soulio said there was no evidence of motives for his offending.
“Despite the dismissal of your appeal, there’s been no submission that you have accepted responsibility, nor sought to explain your offending, despite the overwhelming evidence against you,” he said.
Some media reporting of the trial had suggested that Bell’s offending had “deprived disadvantaged students of programs designed to assist them, or had impacted the delivery of programs or the scope of such programs”, the judge said.
“I accept that that was not so,” he added.
The programs had been successful and achieved positive outcomes for the students, but the misappropriated funds were public money that could have been spent in other areas, he said.
Bell had been an “effective and hard-working” MP who had also contributed to the community through his work as a teacher and by establishing and co-ordinating the same schemes under which he offended, Judge Soulio said.
He had since experienced suicidal ideation and panic attacks, as well as a legal process that ultimately cost him all his assets, the court was told.
Bell was elected to the SA parliament in 2014 and resigned from the Liberal Party after he was charged in 2017.
“You stood as an independent candidate at the 2018 election, as you put it, expecting to lose,” Judge Soulio said.
“This (was) perhaps an indication of the regard in which you were held by your constituents, that despite facing widely publicised dishonesty charges, you were re-elected in 2018 and again in 2022.”
The maximum penalty for a theft charge is 10 years’ jail, while an aggravated offence of dishonest dealings with documents carries a maximum sentence of 15 years.
Bell is yet to face a further 52 deception charges over the alleged misuse of a parliamentary accommodation allowance.
A suppression order on those charges was lifted in September.
He is accused of collecting more than $50,000 between 2015 and 2020 by deceiving parliamentary staff “by falsely claiming he was entitled to be paid”.
There will not be a by-election for the seat of Mt Gambier because SA’s next state election falls in March.
Bell will be eligible for parole in April 2028.
