Nicola Gobbo affair strikes at the heart of the state’s justice system

Former Victoria Police detective Charlie Bezzina reviews the Sky News two-part documentary Lawyer X: The Untold Story as it unveils the role of police informant Nicola Gobbo.

One maxim that I carried with me throughout my career as a detective was that “an investigation is the search for the truth in the interests of justice in accordance with the specifications of the law”.

As a collector of the facts, I knew my brief of evidence would be closely scrutinised by defence barristers, by 12 individuals plucked from among us who we call the jury and by the presiding judge.

It was not my role to censor intelligence gathered, as I knew it would be the judge who would either allow the evidence to be admitted into trial or not.

But the recruitment of Lawyer X — gangland barrister Nicola Gobbo — as a secret informer was an extraordinary move during an extraordinary time.

Was it fair? Did the methods justify the end?

Sky News’ two-part documentary Lawyer X: The Untold Story steers us through the inner workings of a justice system under fire during the gangland era.

The documentary airing tonight and tomorrow provides an insight into how detectives strived to achieve the near-impossible task of bringing to justice crooks who were working outside any rule book.

Former Victoria Police detective Charlie Bezzina. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Our justice system is there to protect the innocent, but in doing so it also protects the guilty.

Transparency within our justice system is not always evident and I don’t think the ordinary citizen really cares as long as the bad guy is locked up. That to me has been a strong sentiment in the community as the Lawyer X scandal has unravelled.

This documentary, in my view, will further cement that sentiment.

You will hear a defence solicitor saying of many caught in Lawyer X’s web “they are not completely innocent nor are they completely guilty”.

Bravo for the honesty.

But how convictions were achieved is going to play out for many months to come.

What is also highlighted in the documentary is the importance of independent investigative journalism in shining a light on events that affect the systems we all live by, and to demand accountability.

That is what gives confidence to our society.

Mandy Hodson in the Sky News documentary Lawyer X: The Untold Story.

The royal commission into the Victorian force’s management of informants will change policing forever.

It will place further significant restraints on informer recruitment and oversight and could scare the new breed of investigator into submission.

But it also serves as a reminder of how quickly it can all go wrong.

The documentary delves into the murders of Terence and Christine Hodson, executed in their Kew home in 2004.

Terence Hodson was to be a witness in a case against police when the shootings occurred.

It struck at the heart of our justice system.

I led the murder investigation for nearly two years before it was taken from me and handed to a taskforce, dubbed Petra.

MORE:

LAWYER X MOVES WITH MOKBEL COULD BE EXPOSED IN ASIO EMAILS

NICOLA GOBBO’S SECRET MEETINGS WITH CARL WILLIAMS

DESPITE RISKS, POLICE KEPT TAKING INFORMATION FROM GOBBO

It was doomed to failure due to the inexperience of police command at the time.

Command let the tail wag the dog, offering unprecedented incentives to Carl Williams in return for his co-operation to solve the case.

The stark fact is police should have better protected the Hodsons and prevented their deaths.

The Hodson case will now never be solved and what Williams knew about their deaths will never be tested.