Former NSW mining minister Ian Macdonald leaves the NSW Supreme Court after being found guilty of misconduct in public office. Credit:Kate Geraghty Macdonald's political associate, former Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union boss John Maitland, was found guilty of being an accessory before the fact. It is second major trial resulting from historic inquiries by the Independent Commission Against Corruption into the activities of the former NSW Labor government. The two men will remain on bail until they are sentenced by Supreme Court Justice Christine Adamson. A sentencing hearing is slated for May 29. "Throw the book at him," NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said after the verdict was delivered.

Former CFMEU boss John Maitland leaves Darlinghurst Supreme Court. Credit:Ben Rushton "I think the public wants to know [that] if people are found corrupt, they are actually dealt with appropriately through the courts." In a throwback to his colourful evidence before the ICAC, Labor Opposition Leader Luke Foley said the left-wing Macdonald was known in ALP circles as "Eddie Obeid's left testicle". "He will now share a prison cell with Eddie Obeid," Mr Foley said. "Lock him up and throw away the key."

Obeid was jailed in December for a maximum of five years over his family's secret business dealings at Circular Quay. He has lodged an appeal against his conviction. Obeid and Macdonald have also been charged over an alleged coal deal relating to an Obeid family property. The NSW Supreme Court heard that Macdonald awarded a coal exploration licence in December 2008 to Doyles Creek Mining, a company chaired by Maitland, to cultivate the "friendship and loyalty" of the former union boss. Mr Foley gave evidence during the trial that Maitland supported Macdonald's bid for preselection for a seat in the upper house in 2007 at a time when others, including Mr Foley, were urging him to quit politics. The jury was told unexplored coal resources were "as rare as hen's teeth" in NSW and the state was facing "budget constraints" when the multimillion-dollar licence was given away without a competitive tender.

A BHP subsidiary paid $91 million in 2006 to explore for coal at Caroona in NSW while China Shenhua Energy Ltd paid $276 million in 2008 for its Watermark licence. The court heard Doyles Creek Mining made no such payment. "The state gained almost nothing for this disposition of hot property to Mr Maitland and his associates," counsel assisting the ICAC, Peter Braham , SC, said in his opening address in March 2013. "On any view, it has been a financial disaster for the people of NSW and a goldmine for the entrepreneurs." The ICAC heard the men signed off on the deal at the upmarket Catalina restaurant in Rose Bay over an $1800 dinner.

Maitland made $6 million selling shares in a company that acquired Doyles Creek Mining after the licence was granted. Macdonald had insisted he acted in the interests of the state and the Doyles Creek proposal included a plan for a training mine in addition to a commercial mining operation. The two men also told the court they were not friends and had only a professional working relationship. But Crown prosecutor Michael McHugh, SC, said Macdonald "misused his power" by placing the interests of a company chaired by his "mate" above the interests of the state. Macdonald is now facing the prospect of a second criminal trial.

The former mining minister is accused of striking a deal to create a lucrative coal tenement over the Obeid family's rural property, Cherrydale Park. The ICAC heard the decision made the Obeids $30 million with the prospect of millions more. Macdonald and Obeid, along with Obeid's middle son Moses, will face a committal hearing later this year to test the strength of the prosecution's case and determine if they should stand trial. NSW Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham, the party's resources and energy spokesman, said the ICAC had "identified the granting and administration of mining licences as an area that is vulnerable to corruption". "Unfortunately the government has not acted to ensure such corruption does not happen again," Mr Buckingham said.

"Donations from mining companies should be banned for similar reasons that donations from property developers are banned." with Ava Benny-Morrison