State politician Troy Bell has launched a criminal appeal after he was found guilty of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from not-for-profit education agencies. The independent MP spoke exclusively to the ABC outside his lawyer's office today, where they finalised his challenge to 25 theft and honesty offences. His decision coincided with a threat from the government to have him expelled from Parliament within weeks if he didn't challenge the verdicts.
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00:00We've just met with our legal team and the appeal will be filed, so I can't talk about
00:10the actual appeal, but it will definitely be appealing.
00:13Troy Bell speaking to ABC News for the first time since a jury found him guilty of 20 counts
00:18of theft and 5 counts of dishonestly dealing with documents, charges totaling more than
00:23$400,000.
00:25It's a very difficult position to be in where you can't talk about aspects of the case.
00:31In a statement released later, Mr Bell said these past few days have been incredibly difficult
00:36for my family and myself as we come to terms with the jury's decision.
00:41His decision to challenge last week's guilty verdicts came as the government warned it
00:45could move to oust the Mount Gambier MP from his seat if he didn't appeal.
00:50Given he's now exercising his legal options, the government has decided they will not move
00:57that motion.
00:58Mr Bell is entitled to exercise his legal rights.
01:02Tom Kutzentonis said the government has received its own advice on the situation.
01:07The expulsion from parliament is an irreversible decision.
01:12The finding of guilt by the court can be reversed on appeal.
01:16Parliament has a role to undertake and I respect parliament, so moving forward I'm
01:25always very mindful that these are public positions.
01:30It's unclear if Mr Bell will apply to have taxpayers pick up his legal bills, a move
01:35made possible by changes to the state's anti-corruption laws three years ago.
01:40The Premier says the government is looking at closing the loophole.
01:44We haven't yet received an application so in many respects it's a hypothetical but one
01:48that the former ICAC commissioner drew our attention to and we're contemplating a response.
01:54The case is expected to be back in court later this month.