Imperfect recall dogs Simon Overland’s Lawyer X royal commission testimony

Poor memory is one of the emerging themes of former top cop Simon Overland’s evidence at the Lawyer X royal commission, prompting counsel to query the credibility of his claims.

I solved the gangland war but I wasn’t across the details.

My investigators made choices without my knowledge, and they possibly broke the law, but I did not fail in my leadership.

The ethics of gangland lawyer Nicola Gobbo’s use were “f---ed”, but I did not discover why until later — much later.

I was “concerned and surprised” by the registration of Gobbo as informer 3838 in 2005, but yes, the documents show I was across her registration within days at most.

These are some of the emerging themes of former top cop Simon Overland’s evidence to the Lawyer X royal commission.

They have appeared to trouble counsel assisting the commission, Chris Winneke QC. He on Tuesday queried the credibility of Overland’s claims about what he knew, when he knew it, and what he did as a consequence.

If there is a smoking gun, it has been disassembled and its parts secreted in myriad diary notes, information reports and witness statements.

These “messy” circumstances (Overland’s description) can be applied to Overland’s oversight of the arrest and “rolling” of a drug cook for Tony Mokbel’s empire in 2006.

Overland sought an adjournment of a court date for the cook from the Director of Public Prosecutions, Paul Coghlan, so a police sting to turn the cook against the Mokbels could go ahead.

Simon Overland arrives at the Royal Commission. Picture: AAP

Overland also said he did not know Gobbo, the informer against the cook, was also the cook’s lawyer of choice when he was arrested.

Or that she attended the station and held an unrecorded discussion with her client and a detective before the cook decided to snitch on two Mokbel brothers.

Overland did not know Gobbo then represented the cook and others arrested in the sting.

Such arrangements defied his instructions at the time, he said, yet there appears to be no written evidence the instructions were issued.

LAWYER X: THE FULL SERIES

OVERLAND’S STUNNING ADMISSION TO ROYAL COMMISSION

SENIOR COPS HIGH-FIVED AFTER SIR KEN LEFT

Overland said, to Winneke’s bemusement, he could not recall if he knew Gobbo was representing Mokbel in a high-profile drug case at the time — while his officers used her in a sting aimed at collapsing the Mokbel empire.

“I can’t recall” has been Overland’s answer to many questions in his first two days.

No one can be compelled to remember what they have forgotten.

But Overland’s memory is hurting his capacity to shape the narrative. It hasn’t helped that he ignored normal police practice and did not keep notes.

Herein lies Overland’s growing problem. Much of the written evidence received by the royal commission does not sit neatly with Overland’s oral evidence.

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