Lawyer X suspected of wearing a wire to secretly record conversations with top QCs
Lawyer X is suspected of covertly recording conversations with top QCs and reporting back to police β a development that could significantly broaden the scandal. Leading barrister Philip Dunn, QC says: βIt was perceived she had stepped from around the desk and gone to the other side.ββ
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Lawyer X is suspected of wearing a wire to secretly record conversations with top QCs and report back to police.
It is now feared the cases of the QCs whom Lawyer X may have bugged could also now be compromised — a development that would significantly broaden the Lawyer X scandal.
Barristers who worked alongside Lawyer X at Crockett Chambers flagged concerns that she had taped conversations in the Lonsdale St offices.
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Leading barrister Philip Dunn, QC, said Victoria Police had created an “octopus’’ with its scheme, which has now triggered a royal commission.
“I was unaware until a little while ago she was taping people in chambers,’’ he said.
“Who she taped and what she was doing it for, I don’t know.’’
Four leading silks to whom the Herald Sun has spoken about Lawyer X confirmed concerns about her activities.
And there is wide concern about the evidence used to convict gangland figure Faruk Orman, who is in jail over the 2002 murder of Victor Peirce.
Asked about the ramifications of such a breach by Lawyer X, Mr Dunn said it was ‘’horrifying’’.
He said the Lawyer X scandal was unprecedented in legal history.
Mr Dunn said: “Her personal life — she was always with the clients. What had happened, there had been unhappiness from a number of members at chambers. It was more the close connections. It was perceived she had stepped from around the desk and gone to the other side.’’
Another senior counsel who worked with Lawyer X said the revelations were “mind-blowing’’.
“I was relieved when I heard she was taping everybody (because false accusations can’t be made),’’ he said.
“If she was taping (us), what can they do?
“If she taped us, I greet that with some kind of relief …
“She was far too close to the clients. She was mixing in too much with them.’’
The barrister said he still could not understand why she would become a police informer and sacrifice her career.
The Herald Sun became aware of fears that Lawyer X had recorded meetings with top silks in 2014.
Lawyer X was “shown the door” at the chambers in 2009 after growing tensions about her closeness to gangsters and revelations she had worn a wire for police to record a conversation with allegedly corrupt police officer Paul Dale.
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One barrister said he was wary that Lawyer X could have taped her colleagues and used the information to compromise cases.
“I reckon she did (compromise cases),’’ another QC said.
“It’s bloody appalling, isn’t it? … It’s a conspiracy to pervert (justice) with the coppers who were handling her.
“I have heard she was believed to have taped people on this floor. I don’t know of any specific issues. All I know is there are a few people who are in jail who were sold out by her … It’s a total breach of confidence. Goodness gracious, it’s a mess.”
In a letter of complaint to Victoria Police assistant commissioner Steve Fontana, Lawyer X said she had “literally thousands of hours of recorded conversations.”
She has threatened to sue police a second time over its use of her as an informer and her identity as an informer becoming public knowledge.