The state ‘‘will be liable’’ for ‘‘at least $438,613’’ or ‘‘a greater sum’’ if Ms Sneddon’s appeal against a NSW Supreme Court decision last year succeeds, NSW Court of Appeal Justice Reginald Barrett said yesterday.

He dismissed a state motion to reject Ms Sneddon’s appeal against a decision from June last year that left the state not liable for the victimisation and bullying Ms Sneddon suffered for helping police convict Orkopoulos of child sex and drugs charges.

Ms Sneddon won nearly $430,000 damages from her nominal employer, the NSW Speaker, and $438,000 from Orkopoulos.

The bankrupt and jailed former Swansea MP and NSW Labor government minister later wrote to Ms Sneddon’s lawyers that she was ‘‘welcome to the shirt off my back’’, because he could not pay the damages amount.

Ms Sneddon appealed ‘‘to get the justice I deserve’’, she said yesterday.

The appeal will attempt to overturn last year’s finding that Orkopoulos was not ‘‘a person in the service of the Crown’’ when he harassed his Swansea electorate officer for more than a year after he discovered she was aware of child sex allegations against him.

It will also attempt to overturn a decision that restricted the amount of damages payable because Orkopoulos did not offer a defence against her legal action.