The mental state of former Botany MP Jami-Lee Ross during his feud with National has been laid bare in the ongoing trial into big money donations to our two biggest parties.
Ross, alongside businessmen Yikun Zhang, brothers Shijia and Hengjia Zheng, and three others – who have name suppression – are on trial over the collection of two allegedly illegal $100,000 donations to National and Labour in 2017.
All have pleaded not guilty.
READ MORE: Ex-MP Jami-Lee Ross went 'kamikaze' to stop demotion, court told
Earlier in the week prosecutors for the Serious Fraud Office put forward that the donations were covered up with sham donors and Ross to avoid having to declare it.
The Crown’s case was sparked by Ross when he filed a police complaint against his leader in 2018 after missing out on top jobs.
A series of political grenades, text messages, allegations, press conferences and secret recordings by Ross soon followed.
But Ross' lawyer painted a picture of an MP hurt and betrayed by his leader.
On Friday, experts told the court the former MP became fixated on revenge. Forensic psychiatrist Dr Ian Goodwin said Ross was eventually diagnosed with "adjustment disorder".
"Impulsive, irrational conduct is a feature of the illness."
"He was really quite open with me that he was fixated on basically a degree of revenge, or basically burning the place down."
Psychologist Dr Hugh Clarkson said the mental illness was the result of a culmination of multiple major life crises, which included "bad blood" with Simon Bridges and a marriage breakdown.
"I've described him in my notes as bewildered, desperate and reactive," said Clarkson.
"There were times when he would just grasp for solutions or actions that made some sense to him at the time."
"He wasn't capable of thinking through things in a clear and level-headed way and really weighing up consequences."
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