Premier Daniel Andrews and Police Minister Lisa Neville are due to hold a press conference at 11.30am (AEDT), where we will question them about the royal commission's final report.
One key question for the Premier is: Will the government appoint a Fitzgerald-style special prosecutor to investigate current and former police who may have helped barrister-turned-supergrass Nicola Gobbo pervert the course of justice.
You can watch the press conference live below:
Latest updates
The findings of today’s report are being closely watched by potentially dozens of former Gobbo clients whose convictions have been cast into doubt by the alleged misconduct of the barrister and Victoria Police.
The royal commission has previously identified 124 affected parties, of which 70 people are still in jail.
A shackled Christopher Binse leaves the Supreme Court in 2001.Credit:Vince Caligiuri
Among those on the list (which was compiled in December 2019) are convicted drug traffickers, armed robbers, murderers and organised crime figures. Here are some of the most well-known:
- Tony Mokbel
- Christopher “Badness” Binse
- Evangelo Goussis
- Matthew Johnson
- Rob Karam
- Francesco “Frank” Madafferi, and
- Saviero Zirilli
On 16 December 2019, Commissioner Margaret McMurdo wrote to the then chief commissioner of Victoria Police:
"I urge Victoria Police to disclose all relevant information and documents to the CDPP [Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions] and DPP [Director of Public Prosecutions] promptly, to the extent that this has not already occurred.
"I am particularly concerned that such disclosures are made promptly by Victoria Police in respect of relevant persons currently in custody. To that end, the commission has information to the effect that the candidates for review listed in the attached schedule may be in custody, and any required disclosure to the same should be given immediate priority. It should be noted that the list of names in the attached schedule is not an exhaustive list of persons who may be in custody."
Today's final report comes after 127 days of public hearings before a royal commission.
The inquiry examining Victoria Police's most prolific informer heard from 81 witnesses, including Gobbo herself, former police chiefs Simon Overland and Graham Ashton, and some of the lawyer's former clients.
It received more than 140 submissions, made more than 80 consultations, issued 374 notices to produce, and dealt with more than 145,000 documents.
By 2003, at age 30, Nicola Gobbo was the go-to lawyer for winning bail for her clients. She earned the nickname the ‘million-dollar legal eagle’ after securing the release of underworld figures Tony Mokbel and Lewis Moran in exchange for a $1 million bail.
But she knew she was swimming with sharks. Here are some of the key figures in her world:
The royal commission has already identified 124 criminal convictions tainted by Nicola Gobbo's double life that may be set aside, including jailed drug lord Tony Mokbel's.
Counsel assisting the inquiry, Chris Winneke, QC, has previously said it is open for Royal Commissioner Margaret McMurdo to find that collusion between Ms Gobbo and Victoria Police contaminated at least three criminal cases involving Mokbel.
Nicola Gobbo with Tony Mokbel.Credit:ninevms
The final submissions by counsel assisting the royal commission Chris Winneke, QC, Andrew Woods and Megan Tittensor made in back September delivered a stinging assessment of the culture and practices of Victoria Police.
They accused police of withholding damaging information, knowingly frustrating or impeding record-keeping practices to potentially cover up their activities and seeking to justify potentially corrupt conduct.
And they took direct aim at Victoria’s former top cop Graham Ashton, accusing him of seeking to justify potentially corrupt conduct within his ranks and failing to ensure his officers acted ethically and within the law.
Victoria's former police commissioner Graham Ashton who retired earlier this year.Credit:Justin McManus
Mr Winneke said it was open for Ms McMurdo to find that Mr Ashton, in his public comments at the time, tried to justify potentially corrupt activity by Victoria Police and avoid Victoria Police taking responsibility for what had taken place.
He also said it was open for Ms McMurdo to find that Mr Ashton "failed to discharge his responsibility to ensure that Victoria Police members act ethically and in scrupulous compliance with the law".
In a break with long-standing practice, the work of the royal commission will not end when its report is published today.
Due to on-going disputes between Victoria Police and the royal commission about what material should be redacted from public disclosure, nearly 100 documentary exhibits have not been published.
Commissioner Margaret McMurdo, who led the Royal Commission into Management of Police Informants.
These materials include potentially thousands of Informer Contact Reports (ICRs) that document communications between Gobbo and her Victoria Police handlers from 2005 to 2009.
These have proven essential in the past in untangling how Gobbo simultaneously both represented and informed on her clients, as well as showing how she was "run" as a human source.
Victoria Police is disputing the release of this material – seeking redactions or opposing the release of entire documents – on the grounds of public interest immunity (PII) claims, arguing it must be kept secret to protect the lives of officers, informers or operational methodology.
"The commission is working hard to complete this task. In addition, there are several documents that, for many reasons including because of the many, sometimes complex PII claims often related to safety concerns, will not be published at all," a royal commission spokeswoman said.
The royal commission has obtained nearly 2000 documents relating to police interactions with Gobbo and the various clients and cases she has been involved in, many of which have been posted on its website.
Known as Informer 3838, Nicola Gobbo began providing information to police in mid-2003 and was a registered informer from 2005 to 2009, providing information about criminal associates and clients, some while she was simultaneously representing them in plea deals and court proceedings.
She received a $2.88 million compensation payment from Victoria Police in 2010.
Here is an excerpt from a letter Ms Gobbo wrote to the Assistant Commissioner of Police in June 2015 seeking additional compensation:
Nicola Gobbo, otherwise known as Informer 3838 and Lawyer X.
I would like you to try to put yourself in my shoes for a moment to try to comprehend my almost complete disillusionment with the very organisation which assured me as an informer, that what I did for Police and the detailed information I provided, would remain a highly protected secret and would never see the light of day.
Now, but for my children and a handful of loyal supportive friends and family, each day is a nightmare as to what might come out next or indeed, the consequences for my safety and wellbeing ...
My motivation in assisting Police was not for self-gain but was rather borne from the frustration of being aware of prolific large commercial drug trafficking, importations of massive quantities of drugs, murders, bashings, perverting the course of justice, huge money laundering and other serious offences all being committed without any serious inroads being made by Police. I maintain (despite what I understand from the media to be an incorrect ill-informed view taken by IBAC based upon who knows what version of events), that anything told to me or said in my presence about crimes being planned or committed cannot ever fall under the protection of legal professional privilege by a client. Most significantly, I did not approach the Police because I had committed (nor have I since) any crime for which I required some kind of "get out of jail free card" as is most often the reason people choose to assist Police.
As we wait for the final report, let's take a look at the legal scandal that was 26 years in the making.
Nicola Gobbo is part of a Victorian legal dynasty that includes two other well-known barristers and her uncle Sir James Gobbo, a former Supreme Court justice and Governor of Victoria.
The defence barrister represented a who's who of Melbourne’s underworld, including major drug traffickers, murderers and Mafia figures.
Ms Gobbo, who for years has also been referred to as Lawyer X, provided information about her clients and criminal associates to police. She was often defending her clients in court at the same time she was providing confidential information to police.
She became a barrister in 1998.
Some of the men on her client list were among the biggest names in Australia's underworld, including murdered gangster Carl Williams, jailed drug lord Tony Mokbel and Mokbel's associate, drug trafficker Rob Karam.
The use of a gangland criminal barrister as a police informer created an explosive legal scandal and led to Premier Daniel Andrews announcing a royal commission into Victoria Police's mismanagement of some of the state's most notorious criminal investigations.
Today – after nearly two years – former judge Margaret McMurdo has delivered her final report. Ms McMurdo handed the report to the Governor of Victoria, Linda Dessau, AC, at 10am.
It is due to be tabled in State Parliament, and released publicly shortly afterwards, between 11am and 1pm.
The inquiry, which heard evidence from Ms Gobbo herself as well as former and serving police, was tasked with inquiring and reporting on:
- The number of, and extent to which, cases may have been affected by the conduct of Ms Nicola Gobbo
- The conduct of current and former Victoria Police officers in their use of Ms Gobbo as a human source
- The adequacy and effectiveness of Victoria Police’s processes for recruiting, handling and managing human sources subject to legal obligations of confidentiality or privilege
- The use of human source information in the broader criminal justice system.
Good morning and welcome to our coverage of the long-awaited final report of the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants, which has investigated notorious barrister-turned-police-informer Nicola Gobbo for nearly two years.
The revelation that Gobbo acted as a supergrass while representing some of Melbourne's most high profile gangland criminals is arguably the most explosive legal scandal to rock the city and has jeopardised dozens of convictions and undermined the standing of police.
Legal affairs reporter Tammy Mills and investigations reporter Chris Vedelago will pore over the report by former judge Margaret McMurdo once it is released publicly and will bring us the latest developments, so do stay with us.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMihAFodHRwczovL3d3dy50aGVhZ2UuY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL3ZpY3RvcmlhL2xhd3llci14LWlucXVpcnktbGl2ZS1uaWNvbGEtZ29iYm8tY29tbWlzc2lvbi1yZWxlYXNlcy1maW5hbC1yZXBvcnQtMjAyMDExMzAtcDU2ajIzLmh0bWzSAYQBaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAudGhlYWdlLmNvbS5hdS9uYXRpb25hbC92aWN0b3JpYS9sYXd5ZXIteC1pbnF1aXJ5LWxpdmUtbmljb2xhLWdvYmJvLWNvbW1pc3Npb24tcmVsZWFzZXMtZmluYWwtcmVwb3J0LTIwMjAxMTMwLXA1NmoyMy5odG1s?oc=5
2020-11-30 01:02:00Z
CBMihAFodHRwczovL3d3dy50aGVhZ2UuY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL3ZpY3RvcmlhL2xhd3llci14LWlucXVpcnktbGl2ZS1uaWNvbGEtZ29iYm8tY29tbWlzc2lvbi1yZWxlYXNlcy1maW5hbC1yZXBvcnQtMjAyMDExMzAtcDU2ajIzLmh0bWzSAYQBaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAudGhlYWdlLmNvbS5hdS9uYXRpb25hbC92aWN0b3JpYS9sYXd5ZXIteC1pbnF1aXJ5LWxpdmUtbmljb2xhLWdvYmJvLWNvbW1pc3Npb24tcmVsZWFzZXMtZmluYWwtcmVwb3J0LTIwMjAxMTMwLXA1NmoyMy5odG1s
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Lawyer X inquiry LIVE: Nicola Gobbo commission releases final report - The Age"
Post a Comment