David Dench jailed for fraud

Former North Melbourne football club captain David Dench has been sentenced to 14 months in jail for his part in a million-dollar fraud scheme.

Ten months of the sentence has been suspended.

The court heard Dench took part in the scheme to defraud Victoria University by creating false invoices for maintenance work.

A Victorian County Court jury found him guilty of 11 fraud-related charges.

Judge Jim Wood sentenced Dench to serve four months in prison with the remaining 10 months of his sentence suspended for two years.

In sentencing, Judge Wood said Dench was a cog in the machine to defraud Victoria University and his financial reward was minor.

But he said Dench had shown no remorse and still denied his guilt despite strong evidence against him.

Outside court, Dench's lawyer Bernie Balmer said his client is holding up well, but is worried about his family.

"We accept the verdict and we accept the sentence," he said.

"We won't be appealing, he just wants to get the next 3-and-a-half months out of the road, settle with the university and get on with life."

Dench captained North Melbourne in the 1977 grand final and was inducted in the AFL Hall of Fame in 2000.