UK wedding jaunt Bridgecorp man wants to get off hook

Convicted Bridgecorp director Peter Steigrad's home detention appeal kicked off today – while he is in the UK at his daughter's wedding.

Deemed to be the least culpable of the convicted Bridgecorp directors, Steigrad is appealing his home detention sentence to the Court of Appeal sitting in Auckland.

Steigrad was sentenced to nine months' home detention, given 200 hours' community work and ordered to pay $350,000 when he was sentenced in May for his role in the financier's $450 million collapse.

Although Steigrad is a Sydney resident, his home detention was to have been served in New Zealand.

But the Court of Appeal heard today he has been in Australia since July, where his ill wife is based.

Crown lawyer Brian Dickey said he did know Steigrad was in the UK until today. 

However, the Crown could not oppose the travel. Steigrad's bail conditions were lifted - including restrictions on travel -  after his application to appeal his sentence was filed.

The Financial Markets Authority says Mr Steigrad’s ability to travel is a consequence of the operation of the law under the Crimes Act which suspends the sentence when an appeal is filed. 

Steigrad was on trial with Bridgecorp's boss Rod Petricevic and Rob Roest earlier this year.

The trio were found guilty of Securities Act charges of misleading Bridgecorp investors.

Petricevic and Roest, also convicted of Crimes Act charges, are serving jail sentences of six and a half years.

Fellow director Gary Urwin pleaded guilty early in the trial and was jailed for two years.

Bridgecorp chairman Bruce Davidson pleaded guilty to the same charges ahead of trial and was sentenced to home detention and community service and paid $500,000 in reparation.

Justice Geoff Venning, who heard the lengthy trial alone, said Steigrad was the "least culpable" of his convicted colleagues and was the only one to have demonstrated genuine remorse, as evidenced by his offer to borrow money to make $350,000 reparation.

That remorse gave him a five-month discount from the judge's proposed starting point of three years, three months imprisonment.

Justice Venning also made an overall reduction of one third of the term due to personal circumstances related to the health of Steigrads wife – details of which are subject to a confidentiality order.

It's understood Steigrad is appealing sentence on humanitarian and economic grounds. These relate to his wife's long-running illness and costs relating to his residence in New Zealand.

Justices Paul Heath, John Fogarty and Douglas White reserved their decision.

During his trial at Auckland High Court earlier this year, Steigrad told the court he did not know about Bridgecorp’s cash flow problems and had never read board documents the Crown alleged were a warning-bell about the liquidity crisis facing the firm.

Steigrad is former chairman and chief executive of Young & Rubicam for Australasia, Asia and Africa.