Corrupt cop Wayne Strawhorn to be star witness in Lawyer X hearings
Disgraced former detective Wayne Strawhorn will be the star witness in the Lawyer X royal commission this week, with the corrupt drug squad cop once a close contact of barrister turned snitch Nicola Gobbo.
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Disgraced former Victoria Police detective Wayne Strawhorn will be the star witness in the Lawyer X royal commission this week.
The corrupt drug squad cop, who was imprisoned for peddling drugs to gangland figures, was close with barrister turned snitch Nicola Gobbo from the late 90s until the early 2000s.
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Neither Strawhorn, nor any other members of the drug squad, ever registered Gobbo as a human source.
But the Commission has already heard evidence the pair — along with other drug squad members — would meet at pub’s in South Melbourne.
In 1999 Strawhorn introduced Gobbo to detectives from the Victoria Police asset recovery squad. Based on Gobbo’s information the Asset Recovery Squad commenced a money laundering investigation into a prominent lawyer, but no charges were ever laid.
That investigation was lead by former assistant commissioner Jeff Pope, who during commission hearings last month denied he had a sexual relationship with Gobbo.
This week’s hearings will examine Gobbo’s relationship with members of the trouble-plagued drug squad from 1999 to 2003 — a time when Gobbo was not a registered informant.
“The focus of the second round of public hearings will be on Victoria Police’s dealings with Nicola Gobbo between 1999 and 2003 with specific emphasis on Victoria Police’s drug squad,” a commission spokeswoman said.
A number of other current and former members of Victoria Police will also give evidence. Parts of the hearing may be closed to the public, the Royal Commission spokeswoman said.
Strawhorn was jailed for more than four years after a court found he used his position as head of the drug squad’s chemical diversion program to traffic 2kg of drugs to Moran for $12,000 in May 2000.