Court documents reveal cop Michael Lamb allegedly leaked crime data to 3AW’s Neil Mitchell
Police allege Frankston Senior Sergeant Michael Lamb was the mole who leaked crime reports to 3AW’s popular Neil Mitchell program in a bid to further political ambitions.
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Suspended Frankston cop and failed pollie Michael Lamb allegedly leaked police information to 3AW’s Neil Mitchell in an attempt to bolster his chances of becoming an MP, a court has been told.
Court documents exclusively obtained by The Leader allege he was the “police source” backgrounding Mitchell about crimes including aggravated burglaries, robberies and a shooting.
Police allege the Frankston Senior-Sergeant tried to gain political advantage by releasing sensitive information to the popular radio journalist regarding 21 crimes in an effort to create a climate of fear as he campaigned for the 2018 state election.
Michael David Lamb, 53, faces four charges of illegally disclosing police information between January and June 2018.
He strenuously denies the allegations.
The police summary alleges between January 22 and June 20, 2018, Mr Lamb released on four occasions the contents of 21 separate Victoria Police Incident Fact Sheets to 3AW.
They allege he would go into the Frankston or Mornington police stations and use his ID number to access overnight crime details and then contact 3AW to disclose the information, which was broadcast – on one occasion with the lead-in “I’ve had a call from a police source.”
It’s alleged none of the crime details had been given clearance to be released, with a ‘No’ in the media box ticked on each police report.
Police suspicions were raised that there was a mole in their ranks when on two occasions a 3AW producer emailed the Victoria Police media unit with questions regarding details of aggravated burglaries that had not been yet publicised.
An audit was conducted which allegedly found two police personnel accessed each of the 21 incident reports – Mr Lamb and another officer.
Police say the other person did so with a valid reason in their role as part of their data collection duties, and that they had never disclosed the information to any media organisation.
On September 13, 2018, Mr Lamb was informed that he was suspected of leaking police data, but he declined to be interviewed.
On February 1 last year police raided his home and seized an iPhone and police access card.
Prosecutors are alleging Mr Lamb’s aim was to try to create a media crime wave storm to get him voted in to the seat of Frankston at the November 2018 Victoria state election.
But his candidature crumbled after he became involved in a trainwreck interview with Sky News’ political editor David Speers.
He ended up with 33 per cent of the primary vote – less than the previous Liberal candidate – and Labor was returned with a much higher margin.
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At Frankston Magistrates’ Court on January 22 this year Mr Lamb’s lawyers tried to block media access to the summary, saying it would unfairly incriminate him.
But magistrate Charles Tan refuted that submission and after a seven-day appeal delay both the charges and summary were released.
Mr Tan said he was no different from any other defendant, whether they be a celebrity, a footballer or any other member of the public, and routine media applications for summaries should be granted in the interests of open justice.
Mr Lamb, who denies the four charges, will face Frankston Magistrates’ Court again on February 21.