Corrupt former NT government staffer walks free after guilty verdict

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jan/17/corrupt-former-nt-government-staffer-walks-free-after-guilty-verdict

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The former chief of staff to a Northern Territory government minister won’t spend any time behind bars after being found guilty of corruptly receiving travel kickbacks.

Paul Mossman was convicted of two counts of corruptly receiving a benefit from Latitude Travel’s Xana Kamitsis in 2014 while he was chief of staff to the then Country Liberals minister Bess Price.

Justice Peter Barr sentenced Mossman to a 12-month suspended sentence in the NT supreme court on Tuesday.

Barr said while Mossman abused a senior position of trust, he was the primary carer of a teenage daughter and jail time would impact on his role.

In his sentencing submissions, crown prosecutor David Morters compared Mossman’s crimes to those of the disgraced former New South Wales minister Eddie Obeid.

He said Mossman should receive a similar penalty to the former Labor powerbroker, who in December was sentenced to a maximum five years in jail for misconduct in public office.