A former AFL umpire has been jailed for contempt after breaching an asset freeze and disobeying court orders to lay out his worth.
Troy Pannell was handed an 11-week maximum prison term for multiple contempt-of-court offences after he flouted a court order to disclose all of his assets and continued to dispose of assets despite being forbidden to do so.
The former umpire had been working in the shipping industry, alongside his 16-year referee career, until he was suspended from his job in June 2024 pending a fraud investigation.
Justice Andrew Watson in May found Pannell guilty of four charges of contempt of court brought by his former employer SeaRoad Shipping.
The plaintiff accused him and his company Independent Container Surveyors & Assessors (ICSA) of failing to provide accurate and up-to-date affidavits outlining all of his assets.
The Gisborne man had his assets frozen as part of the SeaRoad Shipping fraud probe, which related to alleged payments he made while working there.
He admitted to also breaching the court-ordered freeze that forbade him and ICSA from disposing of any goods that would reduce his worth to less than $8.7 million.
Pannell, who self-represented in the Supreme Court civil trial, pleaded guilty to two remaining contempt of court charges on Friday, July 18 relating to a breach of his asset-freeze order.
He sold a filly born from a racehorse he owned and separately gave a friend $10,000 in cash.
Justice Watson on Wednesday said Pannell’s failure to comply with the court’s orders affected its ability to administer justice.
“Here the disobedience was contumacious,” he said.
The judge labelled Pannell’s failure to provide affidavits to the plaintiff as serious contempts spanning several months that demonstrated a deliberate disregard to the court.
“(His) failure to present the affidavits (meant) for six months, the plaintiff doesn’t have a complete picture of his assets,” Justice Watson said.
Pannell will serve his prison sentences for his charges concurrently and has already spent 54 days on remand.
The experienced umpire, who presided over more than 200 AFL games, attracted attention after he awarded 17 free kicks to the Western Bulldogs compared to one for the Adelaide Crows in their 2016 regular season match.
In May 2014, Pannell was left with a concussion and had to be stretchered off the ground after he was accidentally knocked in the head by Sydney defender Nick Malceski.
He retired from professional umpiring in 2019 due to soft-tissue issues.
Pannell had been an umpire and umpires coach in the Western Football League.
