Former AFL umpire Troy Pannell is still in hospital after going through a terrifying accident on Wednesday night. Friday night’s tragedy occurred in Victoria. Even more horrible, the incident occurred just hours before their day in court. These were the stakes, quite literally, as he was fighting fraud allegations over $8.7 million from his previous employer SeaRoad Shipping. Pannell officiated 291 AFL matches from 2005 to 2018. Once praised for his innovative thinking and bold moves, now he is under fire for his professional choices and the focus of a historic legal fight.
The crash, which police initially labeled a “single vehicle incident,” led to Pannell being flown to Melbourne for life-saving surgery. It is still unknown what led to the crashed aircraft. For him, this incident makes an already complicated scenario much worse. The new arrest came just a week after Pannell flaked on making a court appearance before Justice Andrew Watson regarding a civil fraud case related to the fraud claims.
SeaRoad Shipping argues that Pannell committed fraud. To do this, he allegedly generated fraudulent invoices for shipping container repairs through a shell company called Independent Container Surveyors & Assessors (ICSA). Each alleged repair was said to cost SeaRoad $800-$900. In a letter to Pannell obtained by The Age, SeaRoad wrote, “SeaRoad is of the view you have engaged in serious misconduct on the above grounds. You have been the only shareholder and director of ICSA from 2010 to present day. We consider your suggestion that you were unaware you occupied these roles to be incredible.”
This legal battle would not even be the first time Pannell has been disciplined for illegal behavior. In 2016, he led a critical match against gender discrimination that ignited worldwide protests. His decisions handed 17 free kicks to the eventual premiership-winning Bulldogs and just one to Adelaide – an extreme discrepancy. These controversial events have caused Pannell to become a famous face in AFL history, albeit for toxic reasons.
Pannell’s personal life, too, was recently put under a microscope. He wrote his wife, Lynise Woodgate, with the subject line “Love U”—a message he was never supposed to send. In his letter, he expressed his abounding regret for his situation. “I’m so sorry for everything… I don’t know where 3 years have gone, we have been so busy… Had I realized everything I am feeling right now, 3 years ago… I would not feel the way I do today,” he wrote.
The allegations and his recent accident have devastating and tragic consequences that are still being realized. With Pannell’s home life, health, and professional future up in the air, many questions remain. This is the second time that he has skipped a court appearance which makes his current legal situation all the more precarious.
