South Australian MP Troy Bell is facing a “trial by vibe” on theft and dishonesty charges, his defence counsel had told a jury.
The independent member for Mount Gambier is on trial in the SA District Court after pleading not guilty to 20 counts of theft and six counts of dishonestly dealing with documents, allegedly committed between 2009 and 2013.
In his closing address on Monday, defence counsel Nicholas Healy said the prosecution case has “more holes than a Balfours crumpet”.
“This has been nothing more than a trial by smear,” he said.
The trial, which began in June, has heard evidence that Bell, 50, abused his position as an Education Department employee to steal more than $430,000 meant to help vulnerable high school students and used it to fund property investments and pay debts.
Much of the trial has focused on the movement of money between bank accounts and included five days of evidence from a forensic accountant.
It is alleged that Bell stole funds intended to support high school students at the Independent Learning Centre in Mount Gambier to assist disengaged students who had returned to study.
Mr Healy said that If the Independent Learning Centre was a motor vehicle, “it would be a Rolls Royce”.
“Mr Bell ran that ILC, it was his baby,” he said.
“We know he donated an enormous amount of time and energy to it. It involved disadvantaged youth … and but for Mr Bell and those committed to ensuring its success, these kids would never have had the opportunity or drive to complete their (schooling) or indeed go on and engage with vocational training.”
Mr Healy described the prosecution case as “a trial by vibe”.
“We are not characters in the iconic Australian film The Castle. The system (the prosecution alleges Bell used) is akin to ‘the vibe’,” he said.
“This case is a triumph of form over substance. The entire prosecution case is misguided, it’s misleading, it’s confused and confusing, and it is internally inconsistent.”
Last week, prosecutor Jemma Litster said there had been “backwards” transfers between Bell’s personal accounts and the not-for-profits’ accounts “but there was still $436,023 that went out that didn't come back”.
Mr Healy said Ms Litster’s opening and closing addresses were nothing more than a wishlist that did not reflect the evidence.
“What you have heard over the last few months has very little to do with the charges and everything to do with what I’ll describe as the prosecution’s wishlist,” he said.
“A trial that attempts to discredit Mr Bell in every way other than those facts going to the heart of the charged acts."
Mr Healy said that after his client ceased involvement with ILC, and a third party provider took over, there was a reduction in floorspace, a reduction in student numbers and a reduction in programs.
“They would charge huge fees as a third party provider, and yet the place falls apart,” he said.
“On the prosecution case, Mr Bell spent years plundering the ILC, pilfered money, stole from the kids.
“It thrived and grew enormously under his leadership. How could it continue to grow, and be successful and achieve what it did, if he was committing these acts of theft?"
The trial, before Judge Rauf Soulio, is continuing.
