Kangaroo excuse: Missing AFL umpire’s bizarre court no show

A former AFL umpire blamed a kangaroo for his failure to attend court to answer claims that he defrauded his employer of $8.7 million.

A former AFL umpire blamed a kangaroo for his failure to attend court to answer claims that he defrauded his employer of $8.7 million.

Troy Pannell, who umpired 219 AFL games, remains wanted by police after Victoria’s Supreme Court issued a warrant for his arrest last week. He has been accused of ripping off his Melbourne-based former employer SeaRoad Shipping in a decade-long scam.

New emails and text messages suggest he may be in Queensland, or northern Victoria, but there are also claims he may have fled to New Zealand before his passport was put on an Australian Federal Police watch list.

Former friends say they have “no idea” where he is, as police across the country keep an eye out for the missing umpire.

Mr Pannell told solicitors for SeaRoad Shipping on May 9 that he could not attend court because his car had been involved in an accident with a kangaroo.

The email was sent at 10.05am – 35 minutes after he was due to appear in court that day.

Former AFL umpire Troy Pannell in 2018. Picture: Michael Klein

“Mr Pannell sent an email to the solicitor for the plaintiff, stating that his car had been swiped by a large kangaroo on his way to court, that he had no working indicator left and that his windscreen had a crack through it,” court documents state.

“He said he was waiting for roadside assistance and that this was his reason for non‑attendance.”

Mr Pannell has been accused of sending as many as 10,000 false invoices of about $800 for repairs to shipping containers which were never carried out.

The invoices were paid to a company of which he was the sole director and shareholder, court documents alleged.

SeaRoad Shipping’s total loss was more than $8.7 million, with the scheme only picked up by a random audit.

Mr Pannell had previously claimed he could not attend an April 30 court appearance because he was “working in Northern Victoria”.

He listed his assets in a text message to lawyers saying he owned two mortgaged properties with his ex-wife, Lynise Woodgate, and some furniture.

Mr Pannell, 48, also claimed he did not own a car but had been given one by his new employer.

Troy Pannell talks about a racehorse he bought in 2019. He has since claimed he sold it before a freezing order on his assets was put in place. Picture: Facebook

He also claimed that he had sold a racehorse before a freezing order on his assets was put in place.

Mr Pannell had previously failed to appear in court in January.

He emailed SeaRoad Shipping at 6.59 on January 3 to excuse himself from attending that day, according to documents filed with the Court.

“I am currently in QLD with work. I will not be attending today, nor did I realise my lawyer was no longer representing me,” he said.

“Please appreciate and apologise to the court for my non-attendance in this matter, as I will not be present.

“I am yet to receive anything in writing from my lawyer that they are not representing me anymore, and I will now have to seek Legal Counsel on this matter, as clearly I have none. kind regards, Troy.”

Troy Pannell, right, on the Instagram page for Common Galaxia, a cafe he owned in Melbourne.

Ms Woodgate, who is also a defendant in SeaRoad Shipping’s case which is seeking the $8.7 million to be repaid, has declined to comment.

However, in court documents, she has denied any knowledge of the alleged fraud.

The couple were linked to two cafes, Common Galaxia in Seddon, in Melbourne’s inner west, and the Duck Duck Goose and Larder in Kyneton.

Both cafes are now closed.

Mr Pannell was ordered to appear again in court on June 6.